Odds and Ends
by Shibby-and-Gimp
Summary: No good comes from digging up the past. Dynamo learns this the hard way. Yaoi, many pairings, odd. Short chapter this time.
1. Find

Odds and Ends sequel to Nuts and Bolts  
  
Author's Notes: We wrote this fic first, then tied Nuts and Bolts into this. Because I, Shibby, am a review whore, I am posting this. Hopefully Gimp won't kill me.  
  
Warning: Yaoi, shotacon, and we may or may not cut the graphic porn out. Probably we will.  
  
Anyway, read this. And don't kill us for it. Please?  
  
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This was a really, really stupid mission he'd taken on. Dynamo stared at the ground, kicking a rock idly in front of him. He'd been hired by Dr. Cain to look for stuff, wreckage, anything useful and technological. He wouldn't have done it if it hadn't paid so well, but the fact was it was merely an excuse to get him out of the Maverick Hunter's hair for a while. If only it wasn't so boring, it might be bearable, but noooo, it had to be mindless and pointless and - he kicked the rock into the side of a tree - nothing happened.  
  
Dynamo slumped forward into a slouch, standing in the abandoned road. Where was he, anyway?  
  
With a long, drawn out sigh, he scanned the area he had just wandered through. Great. Just... Great! Not only was his mission boring, now he was lost. "Stupid old.. man... " he muttered bitterly, trudging back along the road he'd moved down. The map he'd drawn him of Light's lab was just as crappy as the job itself. "The map says it's right here.." He continued to pace, back and forth, along the path, slowly churning up dirt as he did so.  
  
That was when his day took yet another turn for the worse. The wind began to pick up, tossing his hair about, and he moved a hand up to brush it out of his face, when he felt the first thick drop hit the back of his hand. Well, shit. This was all he needed. Slowly, he backed up, moving into the thick weeds and underbrush, under the safety of the trees. It wasn't that Dynamo was scared of a little water- He just didn't want to ruin his hair.  
  
Realizing this would put a damper on things, he leaned back against the dark trunk of a tree he could faintly make out behind the tall weeds obscuring it. Only, it didn't hold his weight. "FUCK!" Dynamo exclaimed, as he fell back through the hole Cain's team had cleared out years ago.  
  
:::THUMP:::  
  
"owshitfuck that hurt."  
  
Dynamo stared up at the hole he'd fallen through, noting that the rain was starting to come pouring down. Shit. He rolled out of the way before more than a few drops could hit him, sitting slowly up on the hard floor. He blinked, staring around him in the darkness. Well, well, what was this? The lab. Pity he'd had to fall through a hole and almost get soaked to find it. He wasn't getting paid enough for this, damnit. Standing up and brushing the thick layer of dust off of himself, Dynamo let his eyes slowly adjust to his surroundings. There wasn't much there; a bunch of workbenches with abandoned, worn tools, a place in the middle of the floor where wires and metal dully showed through the grime of years. X had been made here? Jeez, what a dump.  
  
Still....he backed away from the hole in the ceiling further and looked around. It was damned creepy to be in a place where your entire race had been made. Something about it gave him the jitters. He might as well get out of the room; it had probably been thoroughly ransacked since the last visit. Maybe elsewhere there would be something interesting. Dynamo grinned. Sure, the doors to other places were blocked, but digging through rubble was preferable to standing around here, at least until the rain stopped. He pranced off to the corridors.  
  
At least, that's how he felt for the first five minutes of digging. After that, he decided he was going to demand more cash on delivery. Possibly an amount that would give the old man a stroke. Now that would be interesting. Finally, after several hours of pawing at the well packed dirt, he broke through and found himself in a large chamber. Crawling through the narrow hole carefully, he began to inspect the room.  
  
Oh yeah. There were lots of things in here. Lots of crap. Judging by the large amount of damage the room suffered from, some sort of fight or struggle must have taken place here. Pulling out a sack, he began to sort through the mounds of useless trash for the rare object that still worked or was fixable. "Wow... Slim pickings." With a soft grunt, dynamo lifted a heavy metal lab table which was overturned. Nice.. Human bones. He was about to let the table drop back down again, when a metal glint caught his eye.  
  
He threw the table to the side quickly, and pulled the mysterious object out from underneath decaying splintered wood. No... Not an object. Lifting his findings up, he set it down on the underside of the lab table. It was severely damaged, yes, the skin torn back from the cheek, but there was no doubt about it. It was a robot. Not just any robot. If he were to clean- him, yes definitely a him- up, he could pass as a miniature sized X, although more childish in places.  
  
"I am so getting triple my rate for this!" Dynamo practically squealed in excitement. Rushing, he collected whatever else looked good enough to take, although his standards suddenly rose greatly, and ran back over to the hole he made. He widened it quickly, then flung the small robot boy over his shoulder and grabbed his bag of treasure, and made for the Maverick Hunter Headquarters.  
  
Later, as he trotted happily down the road with the lifeless body of the small robot thumping against his back as he walked, two things occured to Dynamo. One, that X really had been built there....and two, that the body he carried looked like X.... His mind made a connection, and he grinned and whooped. Shit, this could be...what would it be, X's older brother or something? If so...He could get paid five times his current pay, maybe six! He giggled insanely for a while, stopping in the middle of the road to whirl around in a little victory jig. Thank god for price-gouging. He wondered just how much he could milk the Hunters for...  
  
And frowned as the rainclouds up above loomed threateningly. Damnit! Not only would it mess up his hair, it would get into the exposed circuits of this little guy and ruin his happy little plans. If it wasn't salvageable, he'd get paid so damn little... Good mood gone, Dynamo dashed unhappily down the road in search of shelter.  
  
It turned out that he had to run like hell to reach MHHQ, and barely made it, panting heavily and hoping that he hadn't lost anything on the way there by accident. It would suck if the little 'bot he was carrying had lost a limb...he glanced at it, noting that nothing had really changed. But...he blinked. If you didn't count the skin missing in places, the boy was rather cute. ...Now to get him repaired and get paid. Dynamo dashed down the hallway, grinning at the thought of what his two favorite idiots would do when they saw this.  
  
He considered ducking into X's room at the very least, just to see his reaction to the babyish version of himself, but decided against it, best to get the boy fixed before a limb really did fall off. He turned a sharp left, into the repair ward, and set the robot down on a table, looking for a mechanic. Finally, he found Douglas in the far corner of the room, working on what appeared to be Zero's latest piece of work- some kind of a hovercraft which now lay scattered in pieces on the floor. "The man has a skill." Dynamo commented, ignoring the way Douglas jumped slightly, startled. "I have something for you to take a look, before I hand it over to Dr. Cain." He continued with, cutting Douglas off as he demanded to know where he came from. "Some reploid I found half buried in some debris."  
  
Douglas walked over to the small boy slowly, staring down at him. Then frowned. Pulling open a small compartment hidden in the chest of the robot, he began to inspect his inner workings. He checked three times before giving Dynamo an astonished look. "Where did you find this?" He asked, suspiciously.  
  
"Does it matter?"  
  
"It does." He began to prod at wires, grimacing. This was going to take a lot of repair work. "First off, this isn't a reploid." He began to pull wires free from their circuitboards carefully. "Its general make-up is similar to a reploid, however much more basic." He held an arm up, then let it drop. "I've never seen anything like this before."  
  
Dynamo frowned. "So... You can't fix him." Some help these hunters were turning out to be. Cain probably had no money, and had sent him on a wild goose chase to keep Sigma from hiring him again.  
  
"I can fix him." Douglas muttered, obviously taking offense to that statement. "It's just going to take time." Now this was something Dynamo liked hearing.  
  
"Great! So how long do you think it'll take?" Dynamo grinned.  
  
There was a sigh from Douglas. "Probably...a while. A little over two weeks at the very least, if I work a hell of a lot on it; it would be more, but he's simpler than a reploid. As long as damage hasn't fried his circuits that should be it, though you really have to account for-" He noticed the bored look Dynamo was giving him. "...Never mind. Damn, Dynamo, where the hell did you find this little guy? It's definitely something."  
  
Dynamo pointedly ignored the question. "Two weeks? What am I supposed to do for two weeks?" He frowned. "And when do I get paid for this shit? Will I get paid for this? Because if I don't..."  
  
Douglas cut him off. "Sure, sure, you'll probably get paid, but it's not my problem what you do until then." He grabbed the small robot from Dynamo, carefully bringing it over to a table and staring at the circuitry inside, ignoring the world. Dynamo stood where he was, pouting slightly, until he realized that he wasn't going to get any attention there. Damn. So, what to do for the next couple weeks? Dig through the other stuff? Make fun of Zero? Hit on X to piss off Zero? He sighed. He had plenty of time for those things, too much time, so he strode off in hopes of finding Cain and squeezing the last drop of cash from the old man if he could.  
  
-------  
  
X sat and leaned back a little in his seat, listening quietly to Zero babbling on and on about his day; about how many rookies he'd beaten up and how many mavericks he was going to beat the crap out of. "That's nice." He murmured, knowing that Zero wasn't really listening to any of his responses. And in a way, he was okay with that. It was fine just to spend time with Zero. And it helped, he thought, slightly embarrassed, that Zero was sitting right next to him on the couch in the break room, touching his shoulder occasionally. Once he even brushed his hand against X's thigh.  
  
Oh yeah. X had it bad for Zero, and he sighed. This fucking sucked sometimes. He didn't know what he wanted from the blonde; sex was...well....he wasn't going there. Too strange a territory. Company was good and all...but he wanted something more. This crush fucking sucked. Oh well....at least it wasn't like he...loved Zero....or anything....  
  
The door to the lounge opened quickly. "....damnit." X cursed under his breath, seeing Dynamo walk in jauntily. Too jauntily. Something was up. "Dynamo...good to see you." God, he hated that man. "What happened? You look....happy." Next to him Zero was glaring viciously.  
  
Dynamo waltzed up to the pair happily, sat down next to X and gave his ass a good, hard squeeze. "Hey sweet-cheeks!" He exclaimed with a grin. Ah, this was something he never tired of. That shocked, mortified expression on X's face perfectly complimented Zero's barely controlled rage.  
  
Zero glared angrily at Dynamo as he felt his best friend up. Fuck him, who did he think he was? Damned pervert. How dare he defile X like that. X was like a little brother to him, and far too innocent for Dynamo's intentions. With a small growl, he swatted Dynamo's wandering hand, which was now traveling at an alarming rate around his companion's shoulder. "Go away, Dy." He sighed, pulling X closer to him, away from Dynamo.  
  
X felt himself melt, and leaned into Zero a little, not wanting to be too obvious. Zero felt warm, so close his body heat radiated off him. Suddenly a hand found its way to his firm ass again and he yelled out in surprise. "Dynamo! Hands!" He screamed, agitated, and suddenly he was in Zero's lap.  
  
Dynamo grinned, amused. He hadn't expected that one at all. He'd startled X so badly with that last grope that he'd literally jumped into Zero's lap. Good, maybe they'd start making out or something. And ask him to join. He could use the entertainment. "Come on, X, I don't bite!" He teased happily.  
  
X blushed horribly, clutching Zero close and scooting more into his lap. It took him a minute to realize that he was indeed in his best friend's lap, and the instant it hit him he wasn't sure whether or not to melt and lean against him or be horribly embarrassed and slink away. Dynamo made a random comment - something he recognized as extremely perverted, but didn't understand - and Zero growled at him, tugging X even closer. X shivered. This was almost worth the groping by Dynamo....Zero was so warm..... he blushed more.  
  
Zero, for his part, was feeling a bit discomfited and wasn't sure why. X's ass was pressed firmly against his crotch, and X was squirming. Well....that was awkward, but it wasn't like X was a girl....though that was one hell of a fine ass. Zero smirked, then controlled himself and coughed. "Get out, Dy. You're really fucking annoying and X and I don't want you around."  
  
Dynamo rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on....you know you want me, X." He grinned, reaching out to grope X's crotch quickly, stopped when Zero's hand shot out and caught his wrist.  
  
"X? Why don't you leave me and Dynamo alone for a second?" Groping X was bad enough, but feeling him up like that? In front of Zero? No, this Zero just couldn't let slide. "We can have a 'talk'." He cracked his knuckles, watching as X climbed slowly out of his lap, blinking at him before nodding, face red, and walking out of the room. "Now, where were we?" Zero clenched his hands into fists....  
  
"You're so in love with him. God, don't tell me you don't want to fuck that tight ass as hard as you can, Zero." Dynamo grinned. Yep, that had thrown Zero off quite a bit. "You're thinking about it....and you like it, I can tell."  
  
Shit... He should have better prepared himself for a response like that from Dynamo. He'd always thought X had a nice ass, didn't mean he wanted to fuck it. And damned if he would admit if to Dynamo, of all people, even if he did. "Fuck off, Dynamo. He's my friend."  
  
Dynamo grinned widely. Zero wanted X every bit as much as X wanted Zero. The problem was, neither of them were about to admit that. "Well, you know what I think..."  
  
---------  
  
X leaned back against the wall, staring at the ceiling. What was wrong with him lately? Zero was his best friend. That was it, nothing else going on. Still, though, he couldn't break away from the little crush he had on the man.  
  
He blinked up, hearing a rather loud thud, immediately followed by a yell from Dynamo and a long string of curses from Zero. Oh good. Things were going well in there. X smiled contently. Maybe today was going to stay a good day after all.  
  
Zero wandered out happily, brushing his hands off on his shirt, and threw an arm around X's shoulder. "Well, that's taken care of....let's just hope Cain pays him and he goes the hell away soon." He pulled X into a headlock and happily dragged him down through the hallways. Stupid bastard Dynamo. Sure, he flirted with X....it was fun....but he wasn't going to have sex with him. Nope. No thoughts of sex here.  
  
X, for his part, just blushed, dragged down the hallway. Hopefully it wouldn't be too long before Dynamo went the hell away.  
  
----------  
  
The last fourteen days, five hours, and thirty-seven seconds had simply crawled by. X was ready to kill Dynamo. Zero was ready to kill Dynamo. Cain swore he'd have Dynamo removed if he bothered him for his money one more time. Even Douglas, who was for the most part sheltered from Dynamo's irritating ways, was ready to weld his mouth shut. Dynamo, however, was as happy as a clam at the moment. He had just received a page- a page from Douglas. This could only mean one thing. Turning sharply, he ran down the halls quickly, barely avoiding run-ins with the hunters who leapt out of his path, shoving the ones who couldn't move out of his way fast enough.  
  
Would he be able to talk? Perhaps even recall information he had been told? It would certainly raise his value. 'He', of course, being the robot. Dynamo had been reluctant to name him, assuming the robot already had a name. He stopped in front of the repair ward, cracking the password- He couldn't help but notice Douglas had changed the password three times since he had started his daily visits with his prize- and flung himself into the room, panting heavily. "Wh-where's... my.... money?" He huffed, looking around for his little pot of gold.  
  
He found him stretched out on his back, cleaned up and no longer in armor. He spared a moment to look him over, scrutinizing. He was... Short, much shorter than X, his face a little rounder, and had a much sweeter look on his face. He shifted closer, expecting the robot to react to his movement, but the boy remained still. "H-hey! He's still broken!"  
  
Dynamo glanced around the room. Douglas was nowhere to be seen. Damnit! He gave the boy a poke. Nothing. Another poke. He didn't look broken...he looked like a rather cute boy laying back with a small smile on his face, eyes closed. Maybe...Dynamo sighed, realizing that he probably wasn't activated. He shrugged. /Here goes nothing..../  
  
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Rock felt rather strange. He remembered something, pain, a battle....His eyes shot open, and he glanced around, wondering where he was. The place looked completely different from the lab...and there was strange equipment. There was no unfinished X in a capsule, no familiar workbenches, no blood from that battle he remembered fighting in. Why wasn't he hurt anymore? Maybe the battle had ended. He was repaired, after all.  
  
"Hello!" Rock turned his head and found himself staring face-to-face with a very cheerful looking blue-haired man, in what looked like - was that armor? Since when did anyone besides robots wear armor like that? He bit his lip. Where was Roll? Or Rush, or Forte, or...Oh, no...  
  
".....hello." He said quietly, very nervous in this strange new situation and very, very worried. He ignored the extremely pleased grin that spread across the man's face. "Where is he?" He blurted out. At the look of confusion from the man, he continued. "Well, see...there was...and I was....oh, where's Dr. Light?" He asked, nearly panicking. He had a very bad feeling about all of this.  
  
Dynamo blinked, completely lost. "Dr. Light?" He paused, mid sentence, as he remembered the pile of bones he had nearly dropped the lab table back down on. The crushed human bones. Suddenly, for the first time since he could remember, Dynamo was left speechless. The boy looked up at him, an upset and worried look on his face, and Dynamo knew that he was expecting an answer, and a positive one at that. "Well... You see..." How could he tell the boy, who had shifted from upset to horrified, that the man he had probably been protecting down there had died a horrible, painful death.  
  
Rock continued to stare at the man's face. He was thinking and thinking hard. The look on his face told Rock exactly what had happened, and before he could stop himself, tears had begun to run down his now pale cheeks. "Dr. Light.... He.... He....." Doubling over, Rock began to sob, no longer able to talk.  
  
Dynamo stared down at the crying heap, and suddenly wished he had left him broken. Dynamo hated to deliver bad news, and hated the reactions even worse. As if to soften the blow, he informed Rock of the year and his location, hoping that the poor bastard would be tricked into thinking his creator had died of old age or something. "Anyway," He continued with, over the boy's sobs, "I'm Dynamo, and-"  
  
Rock threw himself forward suddenly, still sobbing, and gripped onto Dynamo's armor, attaching himself to him. He had never felt more alienated from the world in his entire life, and he just wanted to be held by someone, anyone. "My name is Rock." He whispered shakily, tears still falling freely. "Mr. Dynamo.. Can I stay with you? I.. I don't have anywhere to go." He continued with. "My family's gone!" That said, he buried his face in Dynamo's chest, and refused to let go.  
  
Dynamo stared down at Rock, sighing softly. Well... Fuck! How the hell was he supposed to sell him to Cain now? If there was one thing Dynamo hated more than havig to deliver bad news, it was having to deliver even more bad news. Shit, why did these problems always have to fall in his lap? Quite literally, in this case.  
  
Dynamo bit his lip, thinking hard of something, anything to console the poor boy with. "There there..." He murmured, patting - Rock, was it? - slowly on the back. "It's okay...you can stay with me." Shit. He could feel the money slipping away from him. Damnit, damnit, damnit. He could also feel Rock cling to him even tighter, and the poor bastard's sobbing was so damn...depressed, he slowly hugged Rock back, picking him up and cradling him. Damn, he was small, and terribly sad, and with good reason because his 'father' was dead, and he didn't...have any family.... "Hey, it's okay, it's not as bad as you think...I think I know of something that might cheer you up." He ruffled Rock's hair. "Or rather, someone."  
  
Rock sniffled against Dynamo's shoulder. "....who?" He wasn't going to cry anymore, he promised himself, rubbing feebly at his eyes as he tried desperately to stop sobbing.  
  
"I don't suppose you know anyone by the name of X, do you?" Dynamo asked, hoping like crazy Rock would know the name. The boy stopped sniffling, but that was because he was too busy being completely shocked. Yes! He'd guessed right. "Come on....I think he'd be glad to see you!" That was another guess. He didn't have a clue as to how X would react to having what most likely was an older brother...even if Rock didn't look the age, he looked a hell of a lot like X. The similarity was impossible not to notice. "What do you say to that?"  
  
Rock nodded slowly, eyes lit up and sparkling, although still red around the rims. X! X was still alive! Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.  
  
---------  
  
Two weeks later, Dynamo still hadn't gone away, and X's ass was starting to get sore from all the pinching and grabbing. He'd been forced to stick close to Zero - not that that was a bad thing - only.....Zero was acting a little off. He was acting slightly strange and X couldn't put a finger on what this new behavior meant. It was just weird. Hell, Zero had patted his ass a couple times. Okay, a few dozen times. It was really weird and extremely.....pleasant.  
  
"X-ykiiiiins!" Oh, fuck. It was Dynamo.  
  
X sighed, turning where he sat. "I told you, I won't have sex with y-" He blinked. Who the hell was that with Dynamo?  
  
There was something eerily familiar about the boy. He couldn't help but notice how much he looked like X. Suddenly it dawned on him, who this small robot was. "God, Dynamo you pervert, you made a sex doll off my design?!"  
  
The boy blinked and smiled innocently, the meaning of his comment obviously above his understanding, and he latched onto X, hugging him tightly and nuzzling his stomach.  
  
X stared down, at a loss for words. God... That poor thing! Couldn't talk, probably couldn't even think for itself. And now Dynamo had turned his little sex toy on X. "What the hell is wrong with you, Dynamo?!" He growled in agitation, trying to shake the tiny robot off. God, he was so small, X shuddered at the thought of what Dynamo probably did to the poor thing.  
  
The boy cringed when X raised his voice and his hug became a vice grip. Maybe he was more aware of his surroundings than X thought. "I didn't make him, I swear! He's not a sex toy, I swear!" X looked both offended and angry, not a good combination.  
  
"Oh yeah? Then why does he look like me?" X accused angrily, giving up on pulling the boy off him, crossing his arms and glaring angrily instead. "Care to explain that one?"  
  
"You're my brother." The boy said, staring up at him utterly adoringly. "I was really really hoping to meet you someday..." X.....stared down at the kid. He was...huh? The boy slowly walked closer and hugged him again, beaming happily.  
  
"Uhh....Dynamo.....that's really disturbing. Explain." The kid frowned and looked hurt at that comment. Well....at least he had some intelligence....god, he looked so similar, and it did look almost like Dr. Light's work...  
  
"Oh, that's easy!" Dynamo beamed, going over and patting X on the shoulder, making him flinch. "See, you know how Doctor Cain hired me to dig through your old lab and such? Well, I found this little guy....got him repaired.... poor guy seems to have no family so I brought him to you. I mean, look at him X. You know Light's work - you ARE Light's work. He's your brother."  
  
"He's my what?!" X sputtered, staring down at Rock, who was smiling back up at him, looking deleriously happy. "Dynamo! If this is some kind of joke...." He broke off, leaning down, and looked Rock over slowly. No.... there was no doubt. The design was simpler, much cruder in areas, but it was definately Dr. Light's work. Christ, this was the last thing he'd expected when he'd rolled out of bed this morning. "So... Rock.. You knew Dr. Light?"  
  
Rock nodded slowly, hands just itching to grab onto X and hug him. "I helped dad build you." He looked him over adoringly, then wrapped his arms around X's vulnerable neck and squeezed, hugging him with a surprisingly iron grip. "X!! I hoped I'd get to see you awake!" His smile faded slightly, as he remembered that terrible battle with that horrific robot Wily had built. Pounding on X's capsule, pleading with him to wake up, and that terrible realization that X wasn't going to get up, that he couldn't get up.  
  
"...you, huh Rock?"  
  
He snapped his head up suddenly, realizing he hadn't been paying attention, and smiled a little, nodding. "I'm thirsty." He announced suddenly, and left the room, heading toward the water fountain they'd passed earlier.  
  
Dynamo watched him leave, then turned to X. "So..? Impressed?" He asked, grinning, and wrapped an arm around X's shoulder, sliding in closer. "Bet you weren't expecting a family reunion today, were you?"  
  
X was still staring in the direction Rock had left. He certainly seemed to be the real thing. Maybe he could tell him the one thing X had always wanted to know, the thing he had spent sleepless nights pondering over.  
  
"I...guess you are useful for some things, Dynamo, even if you are really annoying at times." X smiled weakly, wringing his hands together. "He...he's so...I mean, I..." He couldn't think of anything to say. Gratitude and disbelief warred in him to be expressed. Rock was like a blessing, though he seemed so terribly lonely. That would have to change. He was....family, after all. Gratitude won out, and X smiled, grabbing Dynamo in a huge hug. "Thank you." He coughed, letting go of Dynamo. "I guess I owe you."  
  
Dynamo smiled, patting his companion on the shoulder. "Of course you do." X rolled his eyes.  
  
-------------------  
  
Rock sighed contentedly, pulling away from the water fountain. That was better. He still felt so out of place, so....strange, being here. But X was alive. He swelled with happiness at that. He had one reminder of Dr. Light - the thought hurt to think of his father missing - and that was one part of his family that he was going to make sure he could protect. X was who Dr. Light had told him he must protect, and even if it seemed rather ridiculous now, with X activated, he would continue to do so. He could fight.  
  
"Hello, who's this?" Rock froze, the deep, amused voice ringing out above him chillingly familiar. He turned around slowly...and stopped dead, everything freezing in pure panicked terror. Bright red armor, though it wasn't covered in blood now, long blonde hair, and bright blue eyes set in a face he'd last seen grinning wildly as the person had.....oh god. Wily's robot.  
  
Rock took a deep breath and screamed as loud as he possibly could. The red robot looked confused. Rock didn't notice; he was too busy running like hell for X.  
  
X looked up sharply, hearing Rock's high pitched shriek approaching, and rushed forward, meeting him at the door. "What's wr-" He grunted as Rock hit him full force, and attached himself to X's waist, clutching him close. He tried to detached the frightened boy from himself to see what had frightened him so badly, but Rock wouldn't. let. go. "What is it?" X asked, finally accepting the fact that Rock wasn't going to let go anytime soon.  
  
"Wow, what a screamer!" Zero stuck his head in the door, even more amused than before. "Someone build you a little pet, X?" He stepped inside and decided to introduce himself, clamping a hand down on Rock's head. "My name's-" He never got to finish however, because Rock was suddenly alive again, screaming and clawing for X, every detail of that night running through his mind again.  
  
Why was X letting him touch him? Why were they laughing as though it were some kind of a joke? He felt a hand touch his head again, and tried to escape it. He didn't want that evil robot touching him with his filthy hands. Glancing up fearfully, he realized it was Dynamo who now touched him, and he began to calm down, finding something soothing about the man's touched. He realized he was doing most of the laughing, the other two were just staring down at Rock with confused looks, and slowly let his hands slip off X's waist and drop to his sides.  
  
Dynamo couldn't help but grin, finding this a good time to lay a few cracks in on Zero. "Wow, Zero. It seems your reputation precedes you. Not only do you scare the ladies off, you terrify little kids as well!" He grinned down at Rock, surprised to see a slightly offended look on his face at being referred to as a 'little kid', and winked. Instantly Rock was smiling faintly, looking immensely relieved, and shifted closer to Dynamo, leaning against him slightly.  
  
Judging by everyone's reactions, he had obviously been overreacting. No one else seemed afraid of this 'Zero'. Rock wondered if perhaps he had the wrong guy. Zero certainly didn't seem malevolent, and his face wasn't as twisted as the robot who had attacked him. Still.. Something told him this was the guy, and despite all the comforting pats and hugs and looks, he still didn't trust him. Even if X did think he was trustworthy.  
  
Zero looked down, wondering what the heck had gotten into that little guy. "So, uh..." The small robot hid behind Dynamo and refused to look at him. "....alright then. X, what's that guy's name?"  
  
X looked down at Rock, then back up at Zero. "His name is Rock. He's....my older brother." Blinking, Zero stared again at Rock. ....they did look alike, but really. Older brother? What the hell? As he stared, Rock made eye contact and glared vehemently at him. Jeez, the boy sure was high- strung. Zero waved, smiling slightly, and Rock's glare lessened slightly, but for some reason he had the feeling that the little guy simply did not like him.  
  
He looked at X, seeing that his friend believed it completely, and looking at his supposed 'brother', Zero really didn't doubt it. "Jeez, what the hell have you been telling him about me, X?" He teased, clapping his friend on the back. "I'm not some sort of mass murderer, and the worst I've ever done to you is try to get you drunk. Or maybe that one time when...." X gave him a playful shove.  
  
Rock gaped, the contact and the teasing were unmistakable...They were friends? That was....but if his instincts were right, and he wasn't going to doubt them, Zero not only was a mass murderer but... "You also tried to kill him!" He said bitterly, knowing that he was right in his judgment of this Zero person. Everyone looked at him strangely, totally uncomprehending. "How can you do that? Don't you remember anything?" He was getting angry now, starting to yell. "I know it was you who killed them." He'd seen Zero - or someone who looked and sounded exactly like him, which was practically impossible - cut down everyone, Blues, Rush, Roll....and Dr. Light...oh god, the blood was still fresh in his memory, and that look on the blonde's face as he'd smacked Rock down...  
  
Zero gave Rock an even more confused look, and let go of X, deciding to leave the headlock for later. "Huh? Killed who?" Suddenly he began to feel uncomfortable, remembering those dreams he had been having as of late. No, not those dreams, where X made himself into a sundae for the blonde; the other dreams. The ones with the blood, where he tore people he never met apart. Was it possible..? "I kill mavericks. That's it. And most of them deserve to die."  
  
Rock had stopped listening, mind filled with the blood. It had been everywhere. The floor, the walls, the ceiling- even himself. He felt himself begin to shake and tried to will the memories away, but they kept coming, attacking him, forcing him to recall more and more. He let out a small moan and whimpered, legs giving out beneath him, and he was out before Dynamo caught him. "Well... that certainly killed the conversation." He lifted Rock up gently, and held him against his chest. "Guess that's my cue to leave.." He pushed his way past Zero rather pointedly- Dynamo was starting to love the kid already. Great instincts.- then paused, turned to leave. "Say..." He glanced back at them. "How much do you think Cain would pay for-"  
  
"DYNAMO!!" X growled, looking aghast, thoroughly disgusted with this line of questioning. "You're not selling my brother!" Dynamo simply shrugged.  
  
"Just a hypothetical question." He left quickly, before X could protest his taking the boy. He wanted to find out every lurid detail he could about Zero, reminding himself to buy a notepad.  
  
Shit. This was not going to be a good day.  
  
Zero turned to X, seeing his friend shaking his head slowly. "Don't listen to him, Zero." X blinked at him, patting his shoulder gently. "Rock's been....really stressed, I guess....come on, we both know you're not a bad guy. Even if you do get me on probation too often."  
  
Zero blinked and shrugged, sighing internally and deciding to make the best of things. After all, X was there....and he was cute as always. "Yeah, yeah....you like it." He grinned and gave X a poke, smirking when the smaller man squirmed. "Otherwise you'd try to stop me." He grinned and pulled X into the headlock he'd been planning to do earlier, smiling more when X squirmed more and yelped, muttering small protests. "Aww, you're so cute, X."  
  
X blushed brightly, twisting and eventually giving up on getting out of the headlock, quickly dragged over to the couch and released. "This...is going to be...interesting, with Rock around." He sighed, running a hand through his hair and trying to control his blush. Zero was scooting closer, wrapping a gentle, strong arm around his shoulders. X tried desperately not to melt against him. "I can barely believe this is happening..." There was a noncommittal remark from the blonde, and suddenly X was being pulled even closer, the arm slowly slipping to his waist.... "Uh, 'scuse me for a second." X got up, blushing brightly. Why was Zero doing that? It was...nice, but so weird....  
  
Zero watched, silently amused. X really was fun to tease...no wonder Dynamo did. Though that bastard had far less innocent intentions than him. Zero blinked, seeing X walk back to the couch, sitting down again close to him....and eating vanilla ice cream he'd gotten from the break room fridge. Zero was vaguely aware that X was talking, and probably about Rock, but who would listen to boring stuff like that? Especially when X's hot little tongue was licking the spoon, there was a smudge of white on the side of his mouth..... Zero squirmed where he sat. Gah. He shouldn't be enjoying it that much.....  
  
"...... so I really don't know what to do, Zero." X sighed, noting that Zero wasn't listening again. This was a bad habit of Zero's that had gotten worse over the last little while. "Never mind, Zero." X huffed, and finished off his ice cream. He felt a small dribble trailing down the side of his mouth and blushed slightly. He probably looked like a twelve year old that way.  
  
Zero watched as X swiped his mouth with his thumb, wiping up the vanilla ice cream, and then licked it tantalizingly slow off his digit. Fuck! Why'd he have to wear such tight pants? He crossed his arms over his legs quickly, trying to look as natural as possible. Something had to happen fast, or X was going to discover his little... problem.  
  
"Anyway Zero, I have to attend that meeting in conference room three. You can wait around here until I come back, if you want, or let yourself out. Bye!" Zero stared at X dumbly; vaguely aware of the fact he said he was leaving. Then the door shut and he was alone. Thank god, now he could get the hell out of there. He needed to let off some stress, get this thought out of his head.... He needed.... To get the hell out of X's room. That was first and foremost.  
  
What was wrong with him, anyway? X was his best friend, and like a brother to him. He shouldn't be thinking of the innocent man this way in the first place. What the hell was he thinking? This wasn't even his room!  
  
But.... Walking through the halls with a hard-on would attract attention he didn't really want. X would be gone for quite a while....what could it hurt? He was not going to think about X that way, he promised himself. He was not going to think about X and his hot little mouth, down on his knees.... He was certainly not going to think about X bent over a table, blushing, moaning loudly and deeply and just begging Zero to-  
  
God, this was so wrong on so many levels. He should be stopping this. But he wasn't. Just get it over with, a little voice in the back of his mind said. Only once. You'll never do it again. The little voice had a good argument. He thought back, looking for something really good in his memories. Suddenly, it came to him.  
  
A few years back, they had been on a mission together, X's hoverbike had been destroyed. Zero had offered him a ride back on his own bike, and he'd spent the entire ride back with his crotch pressed against X's ass tightly, X bent over the handlebars slightly. Fuck, that had been a fun ride, X bouncing back into his lap every time Zero missed clearing a raised root or pile of rubble. It had been like dry fucking, in a way.  
  
He knew he wouldn't get caught, but nonetheless, there was a part of him that had constantly worried. A little voice in the back of his head told him not to tempt fate, and he got up, washing his hands off in the bathroom sink. With a deep, content sigh, he zipped his pants back up and returned to the couch.  
  
There. That was all over with, it had been fun, and now he could forget all about it. He'd just been experimenting, nothing else, and...Okay, it had been damned good. But he wouldn't beat off about X ever again....or at least he'd try not to. Zero frowned and lay back on the couch, staring at the ceiling. He'd always thought - convinced himself? - that he didn't like X in a sexual way, but it was kind of hard to deny his lust when he'd nearly come all over X's couch thinking about fucking him.  
  
God.... X would be tight and hot if he ever got him into the sack. Damned tight, since Zero suspected X was a virgin. He squirmed and forced himself not to think of it before he repeated what he'd just done. The thought was tantalizing, desirable....and horribly forbidden.  
  
Zero suddenly felt guilt pressing down upon him. X was just so innocent. If he did that, X would be defiled, less pure, something lost that he didn't know he wanted X to lose. It had been fine when he'd thought he'd loved his friend platonically. But now that he'd gotten this... this idea in his head, he was seriously beginning to reconsider what he felt for the smaller man. Not that he loved him or anything. Right? Just.... respected him, admired him, cared about him a hell of a lot - Zero had died for him, hadn't he? - wanted to fuck his brains out.... But it wasn't like all of that added up to being in love with him. Nope. Not at all. ........fuck, was he...?  
  
"Fuck." Zero said out loud, blinking up at the plain white ceiling. This day wasn't turning out that great. ....was he in love with X? Did he want to be? He sighed, trying to look at things logically. Okay, so he had very, very strong feelings for X. And he wanted to have sex with him. And wanted to take care of him, protect him, spend lots and lots of time with him....  
  
.......uh oh. The evidence was piling up against his denial.  
  
He wasn't quite ready to cast away his denial, however. He would just have to think on it some more. Nothing wrong with just giving it a thought here and there. No more sexual fantasies, though. Not about X, in any case. He got up from the couch X spent most of his free time on.... Probably naked, fresh from the shower... Water trailing down his back, pooling between those full, tight cheeks... He wondered if X ever masturbated on his couch... hell, if he masturbated at all. Well, he had to... Come on, everyone masturbated.... Right? Or was his libido really out of control, like X constantly told him.  
  
Shit. And now he had a raging hard on again.  
  
--------  
  
Rock clung to Dynamo, shuddering, trying desperately to put everything out of his mind....which was difficult, considering that to him, it had basically happened yesterday. Slowly he was set down on a soft surface, trembling, and looked up at Dynamo. "You mind telling me what, exactly, Zero did?" The man asked quietly. Rock blinked, trying to get himself centered.  
  
"He...he..." There was a pause as Rock choked back tears. He wasn't going to cry again. "I saw him. I...fought him, when I...and he...." Dynamo sat next to him on the bed, patting his shoulder, encouraging him softly. There was a shuddering sigh from Rock, and he continued, more coherently this time. "You...probably found me broken, right?" A nod. "Zero was the one who did it. He was...I don't know what's happened to him now, but he was built by a man called Wily...and he was supposed to kill me. He killed Wily. And Forte, and Rush, and...and Roll, and Blues..." His eyes glazed over. "He killed my family and his own brother, his father. And...I don't know why he was...why doesn't he remember?" The blood had coated the floor, it was sickeningly warm and thick on Rock's face and everywhere as Zero looked up from Dr. Light and grinned....  
  
Dynamo stared. Well. That was...interesting, and very, very unpleasant. It really wouldn't be a good thing if Zero had actually killed X's dad. Could harm their friendship, which was the only thing that stopped Zero from killing him some days. It didn't make Dynamo feel any safer to think that Zero could be a mass murderer. "That...kinda sucks." He said lamely. Rock climbed in his lap, clinging to him, and Dynamo patted him on the back. "I don't know why he doesn't remember, if he was the one who-"  
  
"He was."  
  
"Fine. He was. But right now, he and X are best friends. I personally think that they might lust after each other." Rock clung to him tighter. "I know he probably did all of that, but....hey, he's not as bad now, right?" There was a knock on the door.  
  
Rock cringed at the sound of the door, and clung to Dynamo tighter, as though trying to disappear, suddenly timid again, as he had been when Dynamo had first reactivated. Dynamo sighed. Rock's fingers dug into the soft material between his armor plates, but he didn't have the heart to tell the boy that when he looked as terrified as a rabbit cornered by wolves. "I don't think you should tell X or Zero what happened, alright? At least not yet. Now, if you don't mind..." He attempted to pry Rock off him, careful not to harm him. " I really need to get the door, Rock. It's hard to look like a serious business man with someone stuck to your chest like glue."  
  
Rock stared up at him sadly, then slowly looked over at the door. Slowly he allowed himself to be removed from Dynamo's body, and instead settled down on the soft surface, eyes still locked on the door. He felt so warm, and it was so soft... He felt the need to stay alert, however, not wanting to let his guard down, lest Zero show his true colours. He let his eyes close- they felt so heavy, but listened carefully for any sound.  
  
Straightening himself out, Dynamo threw the door open- Then promptly shut it again, gesturing for Rock to hide. He sighed deeply, noting his eyes were shut, and walked over to him quickly, hiding him behind a clever arrangement of pillows, ignoring Rock's short-lived protests. Running over to the door again, he swung it open again, and forced a grin. "Hey, old man! What's up?" He stepped in, allowing Dr. Cain to enter the room.  
  
"I was hoping you had something for me from that site." Cain sat down on the edge of the bed, and leaned back against a pillow- And Rock! "Any luck yet? You said you'd found something valuable. Something I'd find very precious." Dynamo smiled widely, kicking himself in the ass mentally, and nodded slowly.  
  
"Yeah... Yeah, I did say that, didn't I?" He admitted, then shook his head no quickly. "But I was wrong, and jumped the gun, really. It turned out to be some useless trash." He lied. "I'm not done looking the laboratory over yet, but here's what I have so far." He leaned over Rock, hoping against hope he didn't decide to do something stupid, like start squirming, and grabbed the sack he had dragged back with Rock's body, over two weeks ago. "I'll keep looking, if that's not good enough." He handed the bag over to Cain.  
  
Cain began to look through the contents, nodding disappointedly. "Please do."  
  
Cain left, thank god, and Dynamo sighed in relief. Damn, things just kept getting more and more complicated, didn't they?  
  
"....useless trash?" Rock said, cocking his head. Aw, crap.  
  
"Eheheh... uh, well, see, it goes like this...." He took a deep breath and hurridly explained how he'd been hired to ransack the laboratory by Cain, how he'd found Rock, the whole shebang. Rock nodded slowly. "So that's...how it went." Dynamo finished lamely. He looked at Rock. "Christ, you look exhausted." He didn't blame the boy. To say he'd had a rough day was an understatement.  
  
"....'m a bit tired." A yawn. "But....there's Zero an' I should really....warn X...and..."  
  
"Zero's not going anywhere; I'll make sure of that myself." Rock looked up at him, wide-eyed and completely trusting him. Oh, damnit. "And I'm sure X can handle himself, too. He's no slouch at fighting, I'll tell you that." There was a nod from Rock, and he slumped backwards onto the bed, passing out almost immediately. Dynamo felt really, really bad all of a sudden. What the hell had he gotten himself into? Damnit, if only he hadn't taken this stupid job he wouldn't have gotten tangled up in all of this, and Zero and X wouldn't freak out like he knew they would when they heard Rock's story. It was only a matter of time. ...But then again, Rock was a hell of an adorable little bundle, even with all the trouble he brought. It wasn't his fault, any of it. Dynamo sighed, tugging the blankets over Rock. What the fuck was he going to do now?  
  
He started to stand, intending to pace the room, then stopped, feeling Rock's small fists gripping onto the cloth of his armor. Shit. So much for that idea. When had Rock even grabbed him? He hadn't felt a thing. He nudged his little shadow over, stretching out in bed next to him. Tomorrow. He'd figure it out tomorrow. "Night, Rock." He murmured, calling his armor off, and shut his eyes. Rock's only response was light breathing, and a slight shift closer to him.  
  
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Ending Author's Notes: God, we should be shot for this fic.  
  
....review and tell us if you want anymore. It's, uh.....interesting? 


	2. Talk

Odds and Ends Chapter Two  
  
Author's Notes: ..........The beginning's good, but this story sucks. nods It's mostly porn, though we're editing that out here.  
  
Then again, I'm Muselet, I bash all my stuff. Gimp would argue. Read this and review, we like reviews.  
  
99% of grammatical errors are Gimp's. Just FYI.  
  
--------------------------------  
  
When Rock finally awoke the following morning, he was alone. "Dy... Dynamo? ... Mr. Dynamo?" Slowly, Rock searched Dynamo's quarters from top to bottom. He was gone. No note, nothing. Rock sank back down onto the bed, feeling panicked. Where could he have gone? What if he wasn't coming back? Slowly, he forced himself to stand up. He couldn't stay here all day waiting for him. He had to find X, he had so many questions which needed answering, and was sure X felt the same way.  
  
He made his way to the door, shut it deftly behind him, then started down the hallway slowly, headed toward... Well, he wasn't sure, really. How big could this place be? He was sure he'd find X soon.  
  
An hour and a half later, he found himself staring down the end of yet another long corridor. Okay, so the place was larger than he expected. And frighteningly similar to a maze. There was no way around it, he'd have to ask someone for help. He only hoped they'd know who he was talking about. Hearing a light clicking on the floor behind him, he turned quickly to see- WOW. Rock stared in awe at the woman approaching him. Round, firm breasts on a perfectly curved frame. Not a single hair out of place. He'd seen a lot of humans in his time, but even the models in the magazines couldn't compare to this one. Why were all the humans here so... perfect?  
  
He ran up to her quickly, skidding to a stop in front of her, and gazed up at her, a hopeful look on his face. "I'm lost! I need to find my-... I need to find X!"  
  
Alia stared down at the small boy. If X were human, she'd accuse him of being his son. The resemblance was remarkable. "X?"  
  
"Well." Alia considered the question. "I'm not really sure where he is at the moment, but if you'd like you can hang around with me for a while. I have a meeting with him soon and I'm sure you can talk with him or arrange something there." She smiled. "I don't believe we've met.... I'm Alia. What's your name?"  
  
Rock beamed up at her. "Rock. Pleased to meet you! And thank you for letting me stay with you until I can find X."  
  
Alia grinned. What a polite boy this Rock was. He really did remind her of X; so cute and nice, only this was on a smaller scale. "So, Rock, what are you doing here?" She gestured for him to follow her through the halls, heels clicking on the tiled floor. "We don't exactly get many visitors, if you don't count all of Zero's fangirls." Rock winced slightly at Zero's name. "You know X, then?"  
  
Rock nodded. He probably knew X better than X knew himself. He had helped build him, after all. "Yes. Very well. It's just that...." He bit his lip, wondering if he should tell her about his brother. He decided against it. While Alia seemed like a terribly nice person, he didn't really know if that was totally true and Dynamo had warned him against telling people he didn't know. "...I...don't really feel comfortable around Zero." He finished lamely. "He's just...he reminds me of someone who was....not a nice person."  
  
Alia frowned, saddened slightly. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about it....Zero may kill mavericks, but he's really sweet. Saved X's life a ton of times. Got killed for him, even." She glanced down at Rock's surprised face. "You didn't know that?" She blinked. "I wouldn't worry about Zero. He really is terribly loyal to his friends, and I don't think X would befriend him in the first place if he was a bad person."  
  
Rock felt slightly better about the situation now. "Excuse me, but where exactly are you going?"  
  
Alia seemed surprised by his line of questioning, and he hoped he wasn't becoming suspicious. "To the conference hall. Room 4. For that meeting with X. Don't tell me you haven't memorized the building yet!" She noticed the blank stare on his face, and realized he must not be personnel. "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were a hunter!" She apologized, smiling faintly. "Is that what you wanted to talk with Commander X about?"  
  
This seemed like a good cover, though it surprised him to discover his brother was a commander. "Umm.... Something like that." He smiled back politely, and looked around at their surroundings as they went. "You're really pretty." He added in, finally. You look like one of those models in a magazine!" He saw her smile widen slightly with the compliment, and he wondered if she was used to hearing such things. She was beautiful, though Dynamo was better looking, now that he thought about it. His hair was nicer, and he had a better smile. Nicer eyes. He blushed softly, realizing just how far his mind had wandered, and looked ahead quickly.  
  
He now trailed behind Alia slightly, and studied her figure more closely. Everything was so tight, so.... perfect. He kept coming back to that word. It was rare to find a human so perfect, let alone an entire building full of them. Maybe... He cocked his head to the side. Only one way to find out. Intentions innocent, he reached out and gave her ass a small squeeze, feeling for anything out of place on a human. Circuit boards, wires, metal lining. Please, please let them be robots. He could hardly stand the thought of being the only robot besides X, and Zero, who Rock was beginning to wonder about. He smiled, feeling the strength of her cheek, and knew there was no way she could be human. She was a robot! They weren't alone after-  
  
He ran into Alia's backside hard, as Alia stopped dead in her tracks, and turned around, face red. "What the FUCK?" She yelled, face flaming. She stared down at Rock, arms in the air and damned pissed. Then blinked. The boy looked honestly confused. "....why did you do that?!" Her voice rose sharply as she grew more and more flustered.  
  
Rock shifted, wondering if he'd done something wrong. "I didn't know if you were a robot or not." He said lamely, staring up at Alia and hoping he hadn't offended her somehow. "It's just that..."  
  
There was a long, long pause in which Alia stared at Rock, confused. He...really, honest-to-god had no clue what what he'd just done implied. She would bet that he didn't have a clue as to what he'd done wrong, by the pure, open expression of bewildered embarrassment. ".....well. For future reference, everyone here's a reploid. So...don't go around groping people, alright? You're damned lucky I'm not angry." She patted him on the head, sighing. "You really are an innocent little guy, aren't you?" A small grin. "At least you're cute."  
  
Rock blinked and nodded. Reploids? What were those? He'd have to ask X when they got a chance to talk....along with many, many other things. "Alright...." He blinked, following Alia as she started walking down the hallway again, ordering her already perfect hair. ".....uh..." He looked down at the ground. "What's groping?" He stared up at her as she suddenly broke out into high, amused laughter. "...what?"  
  
Alia snickered, wiping at the corners of her eyes. "Oh man, Rock..." She giggled. "You remind me so much of X...you should ask him that. He had the same question until Zero answered it for him..." More giggles. "Ah, the joys of corrupting the innocent." Rock stared some more, still confused and wondering what was so funny. He didn't like being left out of the joke. "Come on. We're here. X is in this room, and hopefully Signas won't mind a visitor to the meeting..."  
  
------  
  
Meeting...so...boring. X wanted to let his head drop to the table and fall asleep. He was tired, Signas was babbling about some pointless point, and there were so many other productive things he could be doing....  
  
"X?" X turned and blinked, suddenly being hugged tightly and eagerly by Rock.  
  
Rock's face lit up with joy, and he ran into the room quickly. "X??" Spotting his brother's blue armor, he ran to him quickly, and threw his arms around him tightly, passing the only person standing in the room. Heads turned toward the standing figure, and the room was filled with whispers and murmurs, displeased at the distraction. Rock, however, could care less. He had found his brother, and was no longer lost.  
  
"Rock? What are you doing in here? This is-" Oh, fuck! Everyone was looking at him, he could tell. He pulled Rock out of the room with him, staring nervously at Signas. Crap, he really didn't know how to explain this. He stood up quickly, clearing his throat. "Signas... sir... a word, if I may?" He forced out, trying to pry Rock's arms from around his waist. Finally, he gave up on that idea, and simply dragged Rock out into the hall, still latched onto his waist. As he followed Signas out the door, he noticed a far too amused look on Alia's face and knew instantly who had let Rock into the room.  
  
Signas, however, was less than pleased with the fact that a complete stranger had somehow slipped past main security, and had infiltrated one of their conference rooms. "X, who is this.... this...." He gestured at Rock, to emphasize who he was talking about. This....was not going to go well. As X ran various excuses through his head quickly, Rock took liberty to answer for himself.  
  
"I'm Rock!" He offered, cheerily, and smiled up at Signas. "You must be X's boss, right? You look real important, because of your uniform." Letting go of X's waist, he grabbed Signas' hand in his own small one, and shook it vigorously. "X has told me a lot about you, he says you're great! Can I please come to your meeting? I want to see you at work!" Releasing Signas' hand, he settled for staring at him admiringly.  
  
X could not believe what Rock had just done. What was he thinking? He was about to give him a pinch to shut him up, when Signas surprised him, by finally speaking up. "I... suppose that'd be alright. As long as you don't interrupt." Then he did something that made X want to pinch himself, to check if it was real. Signas pat Rock's head, and returned to the room, anger completely drained from his face.  
  
"Wha.... How did you do that?" X sputtered, once they were alone.  
  
Rock smiled, grabbing his hand. "From watching dad. He used to say and do stuff like that when he wanted something from people, like grants, or donations, or forms signed. It always works. Come on!" Grabbing X's hand, he ran back into the meeting room quickly.  
  
X kept staring across the table at Rock as the meeting slowly dragged on. It was the typical boring procedure stuff, but Rock managed to make his way smoothly through it without a hint of boredom. By the end of the meeting, Signas had taken a shine to the one person who was actually listening to him and had forgiven the interruption entirely. X had to marvel at that. Rock had mastered the art of kissing up to people, and from Dr. Light of all things. He wondered for the millionth time what kind of person his father had been.  
  
By the time the meeting ended and they left, X was anxious to get some privacy for a nice, long talk with his brother. He twitched nervously, heading out the door with Rock as Signas waved them contentedly out of the room. Rock seemed to be just as nervous.  
  
"So...." X said, walking slowly through the halls and wondering where they should go, what he should say. "Come on. I....would really like to talk with you." He said quietly, nervous and not knowing quite why he was.  
  
"Same here. I...I'm so confused, here." Rock sighed. "Who was that Alia person, anyway?" He asked, aiming for some neutral ground to start the conversation off on as they walked.  
  
X shifted uncomfortably. "She...is a friend of mine. She's nice, but she's a little weird sometimes...makes really perverted jokes a lot of the time, worse than Zer-" He stopped himself, remembering how Rock was so averse to Zero and making a mental note to ask why. "Anyway, she's a nice person, very trustworthy, so I think that she's a good person for you to talk with if you get confused and I'm not around." He stopped. "So she brought you to the meeting, I guess? What did you talk about?"  
  
"Well, I was lost and she helped me. And then I checked to see if she was a robot 'cause she's really pretty, and then got confused about a word so...She said to ask you what groping was." Rock blinked as X turned very red. "What?"  
  
"Why don't you ask Dynamo?" X offered quickly, not very eager to go into that with his baby... older... whatever, brother. Rock nodded slightly, and silence filled the hall again. X fidgeted slightly, staring down at Rock. "Hey... Rock... Do you know a lot about me?" X asked, finally. No more beating around the bush. Rock smiled and nodded vigorously.  
  
"Of course! I helped build you! I know all about you." Rock piped up, proudly. "Dad was getting really old, and he couldn't move around like he used to, so I had to do a lot of the sensitive work." He rested his head on X's arm adoringly.  
  
Excellent. "Rock... I know this seems like a silly question, but it's really important to me. Do you know why I was created?" His entire existance, he had never understood his purpose. Why he was there. Now was his chance to finally have that question answered. Glancing down at Rock, he was shocked to see tears in the younger robot's eyes, and a small smile on his lips.  
  
Rock stared up at his brother, filled to the brim with admiration. "Because you're special, X. You're different than I am. You're different from all of us. You were dad's dream. You have something that none of us have- Complete free will. That's why you were created. To be free, and to enjoy your life."  
  
"That's it? Why the armor, the weapons?"  
  
Rock sighed, looking away. "Those were my idea. I thought you should have them. Just in case."  
  
"In case of what?" X pushed on, noticing the now distant look in Rock's eyes.  
  
"I'm hungry." Rock cut in with suddenly.  
  
--------  
  
X began to grow agitated. Rock was running him in circles, providing him with lots of information, and yet no information whatsoever. He watched the boy as he ate rather ravenously off X's plate. What had Rock been so scared of, all those years ago?  
  
X sighed, patting Rock on the back as he nearly choked. Poor boy. He didn't want to rush him, demand all the answers, but he wanted to know. Rock was utterly terrified of something in the past, and it was affecting how he was answering things. He avoided the subject like it had never existed. Well then. There was always time to ask later....no point in forcing Rock to answer and then having him clam up and say nothing about anything.  
  
"What do you think of Mr. Dynamo?" Rock asked him suddenly. X blinked.  
  
"Well...he's....a mercenary, for one thing. I've had to fight him more than once, but he's not a bad guy when he's hired to be on your side. I just wish he wouldn't work for Sigma." A sigh. "He's never said why he does that, and-" X stopped, looking at the utterly bewildered look on Rock's face. "He hasn't been telling you much, has he?" X shook his head. "You know there are reploids, right? Well...they're based off of me. Everyone here is one and it's kind of creepy, when I bother to think about it.." He trailed off, taking a deep breath, and segued into a long explanation of Sigma and the mavericks.  
  
Rock gazed up with utter devoted adoration at his brother. "Wow. You did all of that? Dad would have been so proud, if it wasn't for the fighting...he said he hoped you'd be a good person. And you are!"  
  
X shifted in his seat, turning slightly red at the praise.. "...what was he like? Dr. Light, that is. I...never did get to talk to him."  
  
Rock perked up immediately with this line of questioning. "Dad was the greatest scientest ever!" Rock started with, pushing the food aside and hopping up on the table. He sat where the food had been before, facing X and smiling brightly. "He was really smart, and he always knew what to do when something was wrong! And he was really nice, too! He never yelled at us or hit us, he treated Blues, Roll and I like we were human children, and he even took care of Forte both times he stayed with us! Forte wasn't so nice, but even he said that dad was an okay human."  
  
Rock continued to sing his praise of the old man, in the way only a child could. Everything he had to say was positive, even when he described how pudgy the old man had been. It was refreshing, after the negative things he was used to hearing from others. Every ounce of Rock's being was vibrant. He was so innocent and full of life, that X couldn't resist its uplifting effect, and soon he was laughing and talking just as excitedly back, telling Rock about the many adventures he'd had since the day he had joined the hunters.  
  
-------  
  
Well, that had been fun. Zero wandered out of the training room, happily trotting through the halls. X would be out of his meeting by now, he noticed, checking his watch. Hmm....to visit him, or not to visit him....?  
  
Suddenly his door flew open so suddenly X was sure it was going to come off it's track. "X? I'm heeere!" Dynamo announced eagerly. "Are you alone? I brought a nice big surprise for you!" Dynamo stuck his head in his room, grinning at him. Zero glared at Dynamo, unsure if his comment had been a joke or not. "Oh, Zero, hi!" He said airily, and Zero resisted the urge to punch him out. Damned annoying bastard.  
  
"What do you want, Dynamo?" Zero sighed, deciding it best to simply ignore Dynamo's comment. "you usually don't visit like this unless you want something. "  
  
"Uh... Actually, I was hoping Rock would be here.. He was asleep when I left, and when I got back he'd vanished." He glanced around the room nervously, and with good reason. X was going to kill him. "If he's not here, then he's probably lost somewhere."  
  
Zero couldn't resist a bit of a grin at that, and proclaimed loudly, "You are so dead when X finds out!" Suddenly it clicked. If Rock was missing, he'd probably caught up with X after his meeting. X almost always went to see Zero after meetings, so it would explain both of their disappearances. May as well make this look good. "Buuut, I'm willing to help you find him."  
  
Dynamo frowned at him, muttering something incoherent, and Zero smirked. Now, where would X be...? Zero shrugged and guessed randomly, starting to walk down the hallways and smiling. It would be good to see X again.....wait, no, he'd just seen X not that long ago, and given him the cold shoulder. Damn. He'd have to make up for that later. Dynamo followed him closely, and from the smirk on his face, Zero wasn't sure he wanted to know what that bastard was thinking. "So, care to explain your little comment earlier?" Zero cracked his knuckles, smirking a little. If that mercenary had been implying....  
  
"What do you think, Zero?" Dynamo walked ahead of him, turning slightly and grinning. "If you're not going to have sex with X, why can't I? I mean....if you don't want him.... nothing says I can't give him some sweet, sweet loving." Dynamo grinned and made a pelvic thrust in the air. Zero glared at him, pissed off.  
  
"Don't you dare touch him, Dynamo....he's way too innocent, and you'll just take advantage of him. I won't have that happen to him."  
  
Dynamo rolled his eyes, walking quickly down the hallway, just out of Zero's reach. "You're just saying that because you want to be first to tap that fine virgin ass." He grinned, seeing Zero looking horribly embarrassed and extremely pissed off. Damn, he loved it when he was right. "Well, too bad. You're not making any moves...so I get to be his first. It'll be fun to feel him up and have him like it....beg for more...." He grinned even wider, seeing Zero wanting to strangle him, and ducked in a room to avoid him, grinning when he saw X and Rock there.  
  
-------  
  
In a few short hours, Rock had gone from loving his brother to idolizing and admiring him. The tension between them had all but completely vanished, the only wall between them that taboo topic of what Rock feared all those years ago. He had even stopped cringing whenever Zero's name was mentioned, something which relieved X. It had been hard not to talk about someone who was at least partially involved in every tale of his.  
  
They had taken a break from exchanging tales, and were both sipping their drinks, when Dynamo sauntered in, an irate Zero bringing up the rear. "Don't you dare touch X there, Dynamo, or I swear I'm going to-" Zero broke off, surprised to find Rock still with X and, stranger still, that Rock had not run away screaming, like before. In fact, he seemed almost... pacified.  
  
"Hey, X, Rock." Zero said, idly putting Dynamo in a headlock when the mercenary waved. "What have you two been up to?"  
  
Rock looked up at Zero, still a bit nervous, but after hearing good things about Zero from X, Alia, and Dynamo, he couldn't stay afraid. Might as well give the man a chance...had he really changed? "Hello." He said quietly, noting how Zero raised one eyebrow curiously. "We were talking about Dr. Light, and X was telling me all about...everything that's happened. ...Oh yeah! Mr. Dynamo!" He perked up, remembering what X had said earlier. "Alia told me to ask X something, but he said to ask you. What's groping?"  
  
Zero snorted, biting his lower lip to keep from laughing as X turned red. And Dynamo froze. "Uh...." He stared at Rock, resuming the struggle to get out of the headlock and hoping he could also find a way out of answering the question. ...Aw, screw it. "Alright, I'll give you an example!" He said cheerfully. "If, as I was telling Zero, I walked over to X and fondled his ass, that'd be a grope."  
  
Zero cursed and gave Dynamo a rough shake. "Try it and die."  
  
Choking slightly, Dynamo continued. "Or if I did this..." He grabbed Zero's crotch, causing a loud yelp and his release from the headlock. Giggling insanely, he dashed over to sit so that Rock was in between Zero and him. The stream of curses that poured out of Zero's mouth was halted as X stood up, grabbed a handful of long blonde hair, and dragged his friend over to sit down next to him, glaring all the while. "See, that's groping, though there usually isn't that much cursing involved." Dynamo finished, nodding sagely. Rock just blinked. He didn't know what half those curses had meant.  
  
Zero calmed down, glaring daggers at Dynamo. "Shut up and die, Dy." With an obviously faked yawn, he stretched his arms to wrap one around X's shoulders. "Anyway..." He launched into a long, wandering tale about his day, filled with complaints punctuated by X's sarcastic commentary. Rock watched the two, noting how comfortable X was with this. And if his much- respected brother was okay with Zero, maybe there was nothing wrong with him...at least now. He scooted closer to Dynamo and leaned against him.  
  
Dynamo let his eyes wander from X and Zero's antics, to the small body pressed against him. Rock was smiling up at him, almost shyly, hands buried in his hair, combing through it idly. It was peaceful, it was tranquil, it was way too quiet for Dynamo's liking. "You squirm too much in your sleep, you know." He complained, resting a hand on top of Rock's head. "Kept me up all night. And you mumble, too. Drives me crazy." He ruffled Rock's already mussed hair, to see if he could get him riled up like X. Unlike X, however, Dynamo seemed unable to irritated this smaller version of X, and he leaned his head toward Dynamo's head, giggling.  
  
"Can I sleep with you again?" He asked suddenly, looking up at him hopefully. Yes, he finally felt comfortable around X, and knew he should stick close to his brother, but there was something about this man that he liked. He had never felt for anyone as he felt for Dynamo, now. He had rescued him from his dark prison, repaired him, and brought him to the remainder of his family.  
  
"If you can stay still this time." Dynamo teased, releasing his grip on his head, leaving his hair a mess. "And save your talking for while you're awake." He leaned over, slowly, skillfully, prepared to give X's unguarded ass a good sized squeeze, when Rock opened his mouth again, catching him completely off guard.  
  
"Where were you this morning, anyway?"  
  
Well, damn. He had been hoping Rock wouldn't ask. In fact, he had been sure Rock wouldn't ask, far too wrapped up in his situation. Apparently he had been wrong. He had been with Sigma, naturally, as Sigma paid well.  
  
"X says you're a mercenary. Were you off doing that?" Rock scooted closer, his cheek pressed against Dynamo's chest. "He also says sometimes you work for Sigma." His voice was matter of fact, not accusing, and somehow that made things much worse. Shit. Great, not only was Rock not totally wrapped up in the situation, he was just enough into it to have asked about Dynamo. And by the way he'd phrased the question, it was obvious he knew who Sigma was. There was no good way to answer this question.  
  
"Uh, sometimes, yeah." He glanced over at X and Zero as the blonde made yet another unsubtle flirtation and X didn't notice it. "He pays really, really well...." He wasn't going to look at Rock if he could help it. One damn look into those wide, trusting eyes and he knew he wouldn't be able to weasel his way out of things. Cuteness was a damn good way to interrogate someone, he realized. "So, uh..."  
  
"Oh." Rock said, disappointed. He wasn't stupid; he knew what that meant. "I see." Dynamo shifted around uncomfortably. "...I guess that's okay..." Guilt was gnawing slowly at the mercenary. "I wish you wouldn't fight with my brother."  
  
Damnit. Christ, the way things were going he wouldn't be surprised if Rock was some horribly devious plot on the part of the Hunters to guilt him into not working for Sigma. It was almost working. "Hey, nobody said I had to fight X! I wouldn't want to hurt that pretty little ass, now would I?" X, who had overheard that last sentence, hit him over the head. "Ow."  
  
"Dynamo, if you really want to give my brother sex ed, please either do it where I can't hear you or don't talk about me." X stated flatly. "It's bad enough that you make stupid jokes about 'X is for sex', but remember you're talking to a relative." Behind him, Zero rolled his eyes and leaned backwards. "I swear, you're all such perverts."  
  
"Hey, it was a campaign to get you laid, so stop complaining!" Dynamo managed to get in before X's food slammed down on his to silence him. Honestly, X was so uptight. Dynamo had been doing a good thing, trying to comfort poor little Rock, and had been unjustly punished. Typical. He grinned sheepishly at dear Rock who had surely been distracted by X's outburst. Shit. He sure didn't look distracted. Damn, what a one track mind.  
  
"If you don't have to fight X, what do you have to do?" Rock continued with, lamb-like eyes boring into Dynamo's skull. He looked away quickly, to think of a cover. Something, anything. There was the chance that if he stayed silent long enough, Rock would simply move on to other questions, being his bubbly self. Yep, that was what he was going to do. He was going to stare at X's cup as though it were the most interesting thing on the planet, and before long, Rock would move on, something else catching his- "What do you have to do, Dynamo?" Rock repeated. "You're not going to kill someone, are you?"  
  
Dynamo had faced many a foe in his career. He had faced reploids who had destroyed thousands with their bare hands, he had gone up against some of the strongest people imaginable.. And not one of them was as god damned persistant as this cute little bastard. Keeping his eyes focused on the cup, he sighed airily. "Oh, you know, a little of this, a little of that." He knew the second it left his lips that that wouldn't be enough. He couldn't let Rock in on Sigma's business proposition. Not until he knew if he would take it.  
  
Well, enough beating around the bush. He had only one option left- Lie through his teeth. "Oh, old Siggy wants yours truly to steal some high end weaponry for him from the military." No one would believe that. The mavericks had enough strong weapons to make almost any army shit itself simultaneously.  
  
He bought it. "Well.. I guess that isn't too bad.. Won't he do something horrible with the weapons, though?"  
  
Dynamo felt like beating his head against the table. As if it wasn't bad enough that he was still asking about things, Rock had freakin' accepted the lie like it was truth. So not only was he still asking about the job and making Dynamo feel bad, he now felt really, really bad for decieving the poor boy. "Uh...." Crap, he couldn't think of anything to say. Only a complete fucking idiot would accept his lying about a weapon's intent. It wasn't like Sigma would use them for the creation of happy fields of bunnies, and he knew Rock would keep asking until he got a response. "...maybe?"  
  
Those large, wondering eyes suddenly grew teary. "But, but..." Rock was getting fairly upset. "Sigma kills people!" He clung to Dynamo, wishing that the man would at least look at him instead of X's cup. "I wish you wouldn't help him..." He said, sounding very much unhappy.  
  
Dynamo's heart plummeted. Rock sounded so hurt by the idea that Dynamo was possibly a Bad Person that for a freakish instant he was worried Rock would start to cry, and then he'd have to never do that job lest Rock find out and be utterly devastated. The boy might be ruined anyway, and he couldn't figure out why it mattered to him if he was. "Oh, don't be like that." There was a quiet sniffle, almost not there. Dynamo cringed inwardly. He could deal with people trying to kill him, torture him, fight with him, anything but this vunerable person crying again. He'd already brought Rock into all of this and had to tell him his father was dead. But he'd also had to pass up a lot of money to keep the boy safe. He was at a moral crossroads.  
  
".........Fine. You win." He let his head hit the table as he slumped forward. "I guess...I won't take this job." It was partly a lie. He was still considering it, but he'd have to make sure Rock never, ever heard about it. Or if he did hear about it, that he wouldn't know it was Dynamo who had done it. But there was so much risk and guilt involved...Dynamo forced himself to think about other things. Like how Dr. Light was obviously a mastermind of manipulation. He sighed, returning the gleeful hug Rock was giving him.  
  
X and Zero stared in awe at Dynamo and his charge, who was squeezing the life out of him. Never, in the entire time they had known Dynamo, had they seen him turn down a job other than for a lack of sufficient funds. Yet, the words had just left his mouth, clear and concise. X smiled faintly, watching his brother all but molest Dynamo, who had already given up defending himself, and decided that Rock's arrival was beneficial to Dynamo, as well as himself.  
  
He opened his mouth to mention this, but Rock had already pulled the tall mercenary to his feet, and was dragging him out of the cafeteria. "Bye, X!! I'll see you later! Dynamo said I can get ice cream!" With that, Rock pulled Dynamo into the hall, and let him lead the way back to their room.  
  
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Ending Author's Notes: I just realized how long this collaboration fic is. How odd that I didn't notice before.  
  
Review? We'll love you forever and give you porn. Like it or hate it, review and say why. 


	3. Date

Odds and Ends Chapter Three  
  
Author's Notes: And now we get into the more disturbing stuff. Or at least the angsty stuff. ......or something. Anyway, the sex starts in this chapter. We censored it out, obviously, but you know it's there.  
  
Gimp: Shibby likes it. We have uncensored version of sex in here. Drop us a review with your email addy and we'll send you the uncensored stuff.  
  
Read and review. I'm taking a nap.  
  
----------------  
  
Zero sat near a pile of paperwork he had no intention of filling out, clicking his pen slowly and lost in thought. One hundred and ten. There were one hundred and ten tiles on his ceiling. Not that this meant much of anything. They were the only thing worth staring at while he thought over the X situation.  
  
There was no denying it now. Zero had some very strong feelings for X, and they definitely weren't friendship. He'd masturbated to X's image so much in the past twenty four hours he doubted that he'd even be able to get it up if X came barreling in the room demanding sex right then  
  
This blank staring was getting him nowhere. Obviously thinking about it was getting him nowhere; he was going to have to take more drastic measures. But what could he do? He certainly couldn't talk to X about it like friends. Jerking off to little fantasies of the man wasn't getting very much accomplished either.  
  
He'd never been much of one for formalities, but in this situation he was willing to take desperate measures. He was willing... To ask X on a date. An official, flowers at the door, night out on the town - and if he was lucky - night in the same bed date.  
  
He'd never gone on a lot of dates... It was more or less women fawning all over him, followed by a good romp or two in the sack. Something told him things weren't going to be quite as easy with X. Hopefully, with a few dates he could sway the man to try a few new things... Namely sex with him.  
  
Even if he didn't get sex, it would be nice to spend time with X like that.... but Zero happily shoved that into the denial portion of his brain. Wanting to fuck X? Sure, that was fine by him. He knew his libido was out of control most of the time anyway. Being in love with or having a crush on X? Okay, that was getting into uncomfortable territory. He had a definite feeling, though, that X would want that sort of admission from him before getting sex.... so eventually he'd have to sit down and really think about whether or not his 'brotherly' love for X he'd had was really a different sort. The little voice in the back of his head kept bothering him about it. Zero ignored it.  
  
Sighing, he got up and headed out of the office. First stop: His room. Zero mulled over his clothes, grumbling to himself and feeling embarrassed when he realized he was worrying like a woman, and changed into something decent, but not so nice as to attract attention. Now, to go to X's....hopefully X would be in, and hopefully Zero would be able to convince him to go out on a date. It wouldn't be hard, he guessed. There weren't any meetings, and X loved being pulled away from doing paperwork, even if he'd never admit it.  
  
X was lying on the couch, staring blankly at the ceiling and bored out of his mind. He'd just chased Dynamo out of his room, after the mercenary had been groping him and trying to get him to have sex. X groaned and rolled over, blushing. Dynamo was such a pervert, and he kept teasing him about having to lose his cherry. X didn't know what cherries had to do with sex, but Dynamo had seemed infinitely amused.  
  
He blinked, sitting up after hearing a knock on the door. Damn it, if that was Dynamo again.... he sighed and got up, opening it....and blinking, seeing Zero grinning at him. "Oh. Hi, Zero." X smiled, cocking his head and mildly confused. Zero was dressed.....nicely, for once. That was odd. "Something you wanted?"  
  
"Just a little thing....I bet you're bored, X." Zero smiled, grinning when X nodded vehemently. "So, how about coming with me out on the town tonight? Grab some dinner.... take a walk... spend time together." He looked at X hopefully.  
  
X blinked. Spending time with Zero would be nice, especially going out on the town, getting dinner.....holding hands..... He smiled, mentally sighing. This was Zero. Zero, the incredibly straight and not-interested-in- him, however much that irritated X in secret. So it wasn't a date. X was okay with that, it was his best friend after all, and they hadn't been around each other much lately. "All right. Sounds good to me." He smiled, ducking into his room to change shirts, then going back out and standing next to Zero. "So, where are we going?"  
  
Damn. Zero thought quickly. He hadn't thought that far ahead yet. "Uh... Why don't we go see that new movie?" Him and X, alone in a dark theatre room... Oh yeah... he was getting some ass tonight. After all, it was the prospect of sex with X he was interested in, right? It wasn't like he was looking forward to easing an arm around his shoulders as X rested his head against his chest.  
  
"Sure, Zero!" X exclaimed happily, relieved Zero wasn't dragging him to another strange bar in the middle of nowhere. This was great, getting to see a movie with Zero, something he never got to do. They never spent enough time together anymore. "Can we get something to eat first? I'm starving. I've had to listen to Signas' drab talk all day long.."  
  
"Sure, I guess I could use a bite too." This would make things more interesting. Maybe he could play a game of footsie with X. He imagined X's foot traveling up his leg slowly, then nudging his crotch gently, toes wiggling and rubbing his thick... Shit, speaking of hard, he decided to cut his little daydream short, starting to grow hard. "Uhh... We'd better get going."  
  
X smiled as Zero dragged him down the hall toward the entrance. Zero sure was acting strange as of late. "Hey, Zero... Is everything alright? You really haven't been yourself lately." Zero reddened slightly and X found himself pulled along even faster.  
  
"Yeah, everything's great." Zero muttered quickly, then changed the subject quickly. "Where do you want to go to eat?"  
  
"Oh, just anywhere is fine." X smiled up at Zero, and the blonde hunter squirmed, feeling something turn over in his gut. Why was he suddenly so nervous? Zero never got nervous. "I just want to spend some time with you.... we never talk any more or anything...." Zero wanted to squirm, pulling X down the hallway and out of headquarters. Damn, the little guy sure knew how to guilt trip, if unintentionally.  
  
"Well, we'll have to hang out more often, then." Zero smiled at his friend, thinking about where to take him.... and decided on a low-key little restaurant. Not somewhere he'd eat normally, but somewhere X would like and nothing too obviously romantic. Because he certainly didn't want romance. Just into X's pants. No thoughts of just cuddling and tender kissing here. Damn it! Zero sat down at their table, staring at X across from him, and squirmed like he'd been wanting to. Now he was really nervous. Fuck. This wasn't like him. Fantasizing and beating off under the table would be better than....this!  
  
He sighed, trying to relax, and ordered food with X, chatting contently with him while they waited, even during the dinner itself, and when it was over and they were walking out of the restaurant, Zero noted with a blink that he hadn't tried to play footsie with X. Though he had wanted really badly to lean over the table and kiss him whenever he talked. Damn. Fuck. Zero cursed mentally as he walked with X. He had to do something flirty....  
  
X was rather content. So far, everything was turning out to be a really nice evening. He was getting to spend quality time with Zero, they'd had decent food rather than the disgusting stuff in the cafeteria at HQ.... X blinked, feeling Zero slip his hand into his own, holding it gently as he talked and pulled X along. X blushed. And Zero was just helping him with his little crush. But of course it didn't mean anything. Zero didn't like him like that.  
  
Zero smirked. He was smooth. Holding hands....then hugs... then kisses, then... sex. He nodded to himself, looking around for something else... ah! X was a romantic at heart; this had to help win him over....  
  
"So that's why-" X was cut off, mid-sentence, as Zero darted off. What the...? Had he said something wrong? He blinked and stood where he was for a second, then stared as Zero suddenly reappeared in front of him. "Where did you go?" He blinked some more as suddenly a bright red rose was pushed into his hands. X stared at it for a second, turning red, and blinked up at Zero, vaguely hearing him saying something about something. X clutched the flower close and smiled at his friend. It was those little sweet things that got him...and the blonde knew it. God, he loved Zero so much....  
  
And suddenly he stopped smiling. .....what was that he had just thought? Something wrenched in X's chest, and with a growing sense of both happiness and fear he realized it was extremely true.  
  
How could he not see this coming? The evidence had been right there on hand. He loved Zero. He broke his gaze, and stared hard at the flower instead. Too long... He'd been staring far too long. Had Zero noticed his little revelation? He chewed his lip and contemplated what to do next.  
  
Alright! Zero had this one in the bag. He couldn't resist a light laugh, noting how ridiculously tense X looked, and he hooked an arm around his shoulder, drawing him close and planting a kiss on X's moist, soft lips.  
  
X stared, wide eyed, as the innocent, closed mouthed kiss was stolen from him, feeling as though all the air was rushing out of his chest. Oh god oh god oh god, he wasn't going to freak out. He knew better than to believe this was for real. Zero had seen his reaction and was teasing him. He could be a real asshole when he wanted to be. He tore his lips free from Zero's and blushed brightly. "That's not funny, you jerk!" He yelled at him, turning entirely new shades of red.  
  
Zero, in the meantime, was at a complete loss as to what he should do. He hadn't expected a reaction quite this terrible. He had been so busy contemplating how to get X in the sack, he hadn't stopped to think if X actually loved him back. And this very public rejection... Well, it really didn't help things.  
  
People were starting to gather, attention grabbed by the scene the two were making, and X found himself horribly flustered. It wouldn't be long before somebody realized who they were, and the real trouble would start. He opened his mouth to say goodnight, something... anything to Zero, but there was an uncomfortable silence as X worked his jaw, at a loss for words.  
  
........ Fuck. Zero watched with a horrible, intense guilt as X turned and ran wordlessly. The only thing that kept him from losing his temper as all that work was undone was the fact that X had kept the flower. He'd noticed that much. He stared around at the stragglers from the crowd and glared. "The hell are you staring at?" He muttered miserably, then set off toward headquarters. He'd just.... Apologize to X, and try a different angle on this.  
  
-----------  
  
This proved to be more difficult than Zero had first anticipated. He had forgotten how good X was at avoiding someone when he wanted to, and Zero wasn't about to enter the jaws of the lion and go to X's place to talk things out with him.  
  
He'd caught X in the hallway once, and tried to bring the other night up to him then, but he'd hardly gotten three words in before X blurted out something about having a meeting to go to, then shot off down the hall quicker than Jack the bear. This, unfortunately, had left Zero looking like a total idiot, complete with people staring and muttering lowly, and the rookies suffered horribly for Zero's embarrassment.  
  
Zero sighed deeply, and did the only thing he could think of. He took a long nap, and wallowed in his misery.  
  
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X stared at the rose on his table wordlessly. It really was beautiful. He'd borrowed a vase off Alia for it, ignoring her demands to know who had given him a flower, and why. The situation was humiliating enough without Alia's squeals of joy about yaoi. That wasn't what this was, anyway. Zero had given him the rose in friendship, and seeing X's reaction, had made a huge joke out of things. It.... Hurt. A lot.  
  
"X? Guess what! Hey, X?" A chipper voice broke apart his train of thought, and he sighed. Great, Rock was here. The last thing he wanted right now was company, especially Rock. The boy required a great deal of attention, and he just didn't have any to spare at the moment.  
  
"Go away, Rock." X stared at the table some more, refusing to make eye contact.  
  
There was a long pause while Rock digested that. "But I wanted to see you." He blinked slowly and sat next to X. "Oh! That's a really pretty flower! Who gave it to you?" X felt something wrench in his chest.  
  
"I said go AWAY, Rock!" He didn't want to think about what Zero had done. There was no chance that Zero liked him in that way and Rock was just rubbing his nose in it, if unintentionally. X blinked and felt horrible, though, when Rock sniffled and cowered and got up, mumbling something and leaving the room quickly. He had wanted Rock to leave, but not to make him upset.... fuck. X stared at his hands, wondering what to do now.  
  
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Dynamo grunted softly, on his knees. God, it had been forever. Here he was, a well paid, (relatively) well feared man, and where was he? At a private club? No. Spending his millions? No. He was on his fucking hands and knees, scrubbing the floor of a room he spent maybe 20 hours a month, tops, staying in. And as if that weren't enough, his slave driver was cute, bright eyed, and half his size. He hated to admit it, but he just couldn't refuse any requests from Rock. If he wanted candy at three in the morning- He got it. If he wanted a book, or a movie, he got it. Hell, if he wanted them to dress up in pink tu-tu's and have a merry little tea party with the stuffed animals Dynamo had bought him- He got it.  
  
And Dynamo loved every minute of it. Nothing beat that glow in Rock's eyes when he was pleased, and the way he threw his entire bodyweight into his hugs afterward. It was perfect. Rock was easy to please, and even when he didn't get his way, he never threw fits or sulked. If anything, he looked just as happy as before he asked.  
  
And so it turned out that he was, almost, Rock's bitch. The only really bad thing about it was that Zero was having a hell of a time taunting him about it, and even that was easily ignored considering all the shit he had on the blonde. Dynamo grinned, leaning back so that he was on his knees. It was almost creepy. He'd been passing up money because of Rock. Christ, that was creepy. What had gotten into him?  
  
"Dynamo!" Rock said, cheerfully, scampering over and giving him a full- force hug. "How have you been today?" Ah, yes. That was what was wrong with him. Rock was just too damn adorable to make upset in any way.  
  
"Fine, fine," Dynamo said airily, waving a hand dismissively. "Fairly busy, as you can see." He indicated with a sweep of his arm the still-wet floor, gleaming slightly in the morning light from the window. "And where have you been?" Rock's face fell slightly, and in an instant Dynamo was sitting next to him on the bed. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" There was no response, though the ever-present smile had disappeared from the boy's face.  
  
"...I'm worried." He said quietly, looking up pleadingly at Dynamo. "It's X. He's been so....distant, lately, and he's not telling me anything." He tugged on Dynamo's shirt, eyes filled with trust. "Could you talk to him?" And, when Dynamo hesitated, "You always make everything better!"  
  
Dynamo had no clue what exactly he was supposed to do, but he really had no choice in whether or not he was going to do it. To betray the unshakable belief that he made everything alright would have amounted to passing up riches for no work. "Sure, Rock. No problem." Yep. Completely his bitch.  
  
Rock slid his arms around his waist, giving him one of his specialty body hugs, smiling happily. "Really?? Promise?" He leaned up to kiss Dynamo on the cheek, and Rock found his lips pressed up against his own, since Dynamo had turned his head to see what he was doing. Rock pulled away quickly, pink in the cheeks, and began to giggle, having to cover his mouth with both hands to stifle them.  
  
"Y-yeah, I promise." Dynamo stumbled over, feeling his face colour slightly. What the fuck was he getting so flustered for? It was just an innocent kiss from a cute little kid. As Dynamo stared at him, however, Rock suddenly seemed like less of a sweet innocent child, and for a fleeting moment he almost considered him attractive. He stood up quickly, the whole idea completely ridiculous, and made his way toward X quickly. "I'll go find out now. Behave." He grinned at Rock, who giggled more, then smiled and nodded  
  
As he ran down the hall, Dynamo's head began to clear, and he sighed, reminding himself to teach Rock how to really kiss later, or something. For a first kiss, it had been rather crappy, really. He laughed suddenly, at the thought of Rock's first kiss being with him of all people, and by accident, to boot. Then he realized he was standing outside X's door, making one hell of a racket. Clearing his throat, he swung the door to his room open.  
  
"Who's my favourite hunter??" He cried, letting himself in, and looking around. X wasn't in here, but he could hear him telling Dynamo to 'get lost' faintly from the next room over. Great! Now he wouldn't have to search! Ignoring X's demand to be left alone, he swung open that door as well and padded into the room.  
  
X was sitting alone, sunk into his favorite spot on the couch, giving him a rather sour look. "Dynamo! I thought I told you to take a hike!" X snapped at him, looking angry. Oh ho, now THIS was a rare sight! He was used to mild to severe irritation from X, it was rare indeed for him to be so angry at Dynamo. "Go away!" Dynamo was already helping himself to a spot on the couch next to X and making himself comfortable. This he had to hear.  
  
X turned his head away, resigning himself to Dynamo's presence. Just because someone else was there didn't mean he had to talk to them. "......" Why was Dynamo here, though? "Why are you here?"  
  
"Rock asked me to come here." Dynamo ignored the small chuckle from X. "Oh, fuck you, I like being nice to him. And he's worried about you. Asked me to come here and talk to you a bit." There was silence. "Someone's a bit irritated." No response. Dynamo poked X on the arm, ruffled his hair. Nothing. "....Okay then. Fine. If you won't talk to me you can wallow in your misery and make Rock upset by being so distant from everything. What are you, PMSing or something? Pregnant? Zero can't get it up anymore?"  
  
"Fuck. You." X shuddered a little, extremely upset and wanting to either hurt Dynamo or cry. Why wouldn't that bastard just leave already?  
  
Blinking, Dynamo backed away just a little bit. Angry X was an odd thing, but sort of amusing. Angry, cursing X was not only something he hadn't seen before, but probably mildly dangerous. "....okay then... that's a bit disturbing. What's gotten into you? Where's the happy, cheerful, gullible X we know?" And how could he get out of this without losing a limb or disappointing Rock?  
  
The situation was bleak. X was pissy and unwilling to talk, Rock was back in his room, waiting patiently for Dynamo to return to him. The worst part of all, however, was the fact that he wasn't getting paid for this. "So, did Alia videotape your sexual exploits with Zero?" He laughed, and clapped his hand on X's back jovially.  
  
X didn't resist Dynamo's hand, and suddenly he was bent over, face in his hands. He began to sob softly. "Stop it..." He choked, face sinking into his hands further. "Have you ever, for even a moment, considered the fact that I may actually be gay?" He continued to cry, chest heaving shakily. Dynamo had, if unintentionally, just jabbed him in the one place he was hurting. Zero would never be interested in him, and he was being teased horribly about it by both the blonde and Dynamo. It just hurt so damn much.... he wanted it to go away. X sniffled and tried to stop crying.  
  
Dynamo blinked, not surprised. Of course he had considered X might be gay. In fact, being told he was straight was what would throw him off. In Dynamo's eyes, X was as fruity as they come. But that wouldn't make a very good answer. Damn, Rock had made him soft and sensitive, more in tune with nature... all that crap. "Are you?" He asked, finally.  
  
God, had it really been that obvious? Dynamo seemed less than surprised. He must be horrible at hiding his feelings, which could only mean one thing. Zero probably knew, and had been teasing him that night with the flower.  
  
"I don't knoooow!" X wailed, surprised by the sound of his own voice. Suddenly he was buried in Dynamo's chest, not entirely sure how he got there, sobbing bitterly. When had things gotten so fucked up? Why couldn't anything be normal anymore?  
  
He told himself to shut up, mentally. He was acting childish; he was far too mature for this. X didn't cry. X was strong, X fought Sigma and killed mavericks without a second thought. X was.... A complete mess. Screw it. He needed comfort, and Dynamo was the closest thing to it. He let himself run on, using Dynamo as an outlet for weeks of frustration. "I ... I ... I think... I think I -I'm in love w-w-with Zero! I don't know what to do!"  
  
God, how could he have put that so plainly? He'd just blurted out his darkest secret, and to Dynamo of all people. Fuck. Now everyone in the MHHQ was going to know by the end of the day. X sobbed harder, clutching at Dynamo's shirt.  
  
Dynamo stared at X in disbelief momentarily, then began to laugh, slapping a hand over his forehead. This was the big problem? THIS? Christ, it seemed every hunter in the entire headquarters knew X was madly in love with Zero, except for X and Zero. "I've been saying it for years." He chuckled, pushing X forward, onto his feet. "Now, if you were smart, you'd go tell him that right now, and I can guarantee you'll have the best sex of your life within the hour." He grabbed a tissue from the coffee table, and began to mop X's eyes with it. "There, now go. Go, go, go. Unless you want me to come too. I wouldn't mind, it's been awhile since I've had a threesome." He teased the bewildered X, who still hadn't said a word.  
  
X stared at Dynamo blankly and said the first thing that came to mind. "Huh?" There. Now that was intelligent. "Stop fooling around, Dynamo." He took the Kleenex from Dynamo and wiped at his eyes lightly. Dynamo had to be playing around with him, toying with his emotions. He liked to tease, and he'd taken it too far.  
  
....Okay, he wasn't getting paid for this and he didn't want to deal with denial. Stupid Hunters; they could kick your ass but they didn't have a fucking clue about their relationships with each other. Denser than lead, all of them, especially those two idiots. "You don't believe me? Fine." He sighed, grabbing X's arm and dragging him out the door. Only one real way to settle this. Zero was probably sitting in his room moping right now; if Rock had noticed X's odd behavior, Zero sure as hell would have noticed and gotten upset. Christ. What the hell was wrong with these people?  
  
Still tugging the bewildered X with him, Dynamo stormed down the hallways, turned to go to Zero's room, and knocked on the door. There was a gasp from X, who immediately tried to pull out of his grasp and run away. "Dynamo...you can't do this! It's....." X protested, face flaming and eyes tearing up again. "Please don't!"  
  
-------------  
  
Zero sighed, lying on the couch and staring at the ceiling. God, this sucked. X was angry with him, Dynamo was three times as annoying as usual, and he was beginning to have the sinking feeling that he'd ruined something by going on that fucking date. He pulled a pillow over his face and groaned. What the hell was he going to do? Things like this didn't solve themselves.  
  
There was a loud knock on the door. Damn, he really didn't want to talk to anyone.... but he got up, sighing, and opened it. Dynamo was grinning at him. Damn him.... "What do you want, Dy....?" Zero blinked, noticing X. X, who was crying quietly, trying to pull himself away from Dynamo's tight grasp, looking disheveled and horribly unhappy. Zero's eyes widened. Had Dynamo....? His eyes narrowed and he grabbed Dynamo by the shirt collar. "What did you do to him, you-"  
  
"Shut up, Zero." Dynamo sighed, pulling X around in front of him and shoving the upset hunter into Zero's arms. "Here. Take him. He's very unhappy and in love with you and could probably use a good hard fuck."  
  
Zero stared first at X, then at Dynamo, then back down at the squirming, upset man in his arms. X blinked back up at him, expression a combination of both nervousness and terror, and tried desperately to pull away. Zero grinned. Well, well.... maybe these things did solve themselves. "See? He likes you, X. Get yourself some cock and don't show your face until you're happy again." Dynamo grinned. "Let me know if you ever want a threesome!" Zero watched the mercenary dash off down the hallway. Damn.... guess that idiot was good for something....  
  
X was still wriggling desperately, trying to get away. Zero ignored it, pulling him into the room and shutting the door, locking it behind him. Judging by X's reactions and Dynamo's words.... maybe the smaller hunter was in love with him. In which case he would be very, very willing to give X some cock. .....as soon as he got him calmed down, of course. Zero sighed, feeling guilty and hugging X close as he shuddered and cried softly. A little talk first – he pulled X into the bedroom, sitting him down on the bed and flopping down next to him, still holding onto him tightly - and then he was going to try and get some sex.  
  
"Come on, X... " Zero murmured, trying to get X to look up at him. No response there, X was trying to ignore him, turning his head away slightly. Damn. "X... Look at me.." He continued to talk to the man, then tilted X's head back when he still refused to respond. "X." And then... Nothing. Fuck, he'd forgotten what he was going to say. X looked so hurt, so vulnerable, so... fuckable. Oh hell, they could talk later.  
  
An afterthought, really. Zero was already wrestling with X's lips, kissing him hungrily, refusing to back down when X squirmed and tried to pull free. Zero was just starting to doubt whether Dynamo had been telling the truth or not when X finally began returning his kisses timidly. Zero moaned eagerly, pushing his friend back on the bed, grinding against him slowly and listening to X gasp. God, he'd wanted this. X seemed a little bewildered, and even nervous, but everything would work out just fine..... he was sure of it.  
  
Besides....they'd have plenty of time to talk in the morning.  
  
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Ending author's notes: There! Take your sex and be happy! ......because next chapter we give you more angst and sex. And disturbingness.  
  
And review and tell us what you think. We worked quite a while on this fic. Tell us if it's crap. 


	4. Pairings

Odds and Ends 4

Author's Notes: Do not read the first scene of this chapter. It's.....very, very wrong. In case you're wondering who to blame for this pairing, it's my fault, and I was joking at the time. But it got really out of hand, as you can see in this fic. My bad. Direct your disgust to Shibby, though Gimp's the one who insisted on the porn.

This is censored. You _really_ don't want to see the uncensored. It makes me shudder. Ugh.

-Shibby of Shibby and Gimp

-------------

Rock looked up at him worriedly as Dynamo returned, scrubbing the floor in his absence. "Is X okay?" Rock sniffled, looking unbelievably worried- and cute while he was at it. Dynamo grinned widely and nodded, on top of the world. He really could make everything better, so long as it was for Rock.

"Of course, I fixed everything." He announced, sitting down by him and watched Rock fling the brush aside with amusement, then grab onto him and hug him tightly. Yep, everything was honkey dorey. X had fresh cock for his ass, Zero had some ass to stuff his cock into, they were young, in love, and Rock was happy about the entire thing. He hugged him gently, rubbing his back, listening to him sniffle and whimper. Wait... Fuck, why wasn't Rock happy now? "What is it now?" He sighed, looking down at the once again distressed Rock.

"Why did he tell you what was wrong, but not me? I thought you're supposed to confide in your family." He rubbed his eye, looking so hurt, and helpless, that Dynamo wanted to- Well, that would be inappropriate. Let's just say Dynamo wanted to hug him and make it aaaall go away. Damn. He had been so busy taking care of X and Zero's relationship that he hadn't done a thing about his own problems. Mainly, how Rock was obviously infatuated with Dynamo, perhaps even in love, and was hurt repeatedly by him as Dynamo tried desperately to ignore the looks, the hints, everything.

It wasn't that he was opposed to the thought, he'd love to fuck Rock's little brains out, but that made Dynamo feel guilty. Rock was so sweet and innocent, and..... Tiny. Christ, not only might he not be able to fit, but Rock was a completely different type of machine. For all he knew, he could have something in his seed that could corrode whatever Rock's innards were made of. Those warm, tight, innards... God, he had put far too much thought into this. He couldn't even be sure if Rock was anatomically correct. He'd only ever seen him stripped down to his boxers.

Rock was staring up at him, obviously expecting an answer. Shit, what had he asked? Dynamo cursed himself for his moment of inattentiveness while in Rock's company, then spoke up finally, remembering. "Well.. This was on a subject you don't really know much on.. " Okay, that didn't help. Now Rock looked almost offended. "Sometimes, in situations like that, and outside opinion is better.

Rock nodded slowly, understanding that. "What was wrong?"

There was a question that was difficult to answer. "Uh....see, it wouldn't be right for me to tell you...I'm sure-" From somewhere in the building there was a loud, muffled yell. Dynamo blinked, recognizing the voice and noting the tone. Those two were at it already? "....That he'll tell you everything tomorrow. I think he'd prefer to explain it himself." He nodded sagely, applauding himself on his ability to make stuff up.

There was another nod from Rock. "Okay then." The boy cuddled up close to Dynamo, very close... "Thank you." A small kiss was pressed against his cheek, and Dynamo had to bite his lower lip to keep from turning around and claiming those soft, warm lips. "You're so nice." Rock purred. Dynamo wasn't sure whether to giggle or scream in frustration. But it was just a kiss, kisses didn't hurt....

"Yes. Yes I am." He stated, then, tempted beyond words, turned his head to plant a warm, wet kiss on Rock's lips. He buried his hands in the boy's hair, working his tongue into that small, hot mouth, and wondered how fucking crazy he'd become to be doing this.

He felt the muffled sound and slight vibration in Rock's throat as he tried to speak or scream. Which, he really wasn't sure. Their lips wrestled momentarily, Rock trying to break the kiss while Dynamo tried to prevent that, before Rock finally won out, and broke free, gasping for breath. he clapped his hands over his mouth, blushing brightly, and stared at him, a stray tear running down his cheek. Dynamo realized, with horror, that he had made some horrible mistake. Had he misread Rock's affection? Had he gone too fast? Had he hurt him?

Rock was dizzy, head spinning. He had never been kissed like that and now someone had done just that, without a second thought, and he was afraid. He was afraid of Dynamo, of the kiss, and of the lovely sensation his mouth now had. He heard Dynamo, as though he were distant, asking him if he were okay, and wondered why he was asking. Of course he wasn't okay. He was terrified, yet at the same time excited. And he wanted what Dynamo was offering, badly. Lifting his head, he stared up at Dynamo, who was holding Rock's cheek cupped in his hand. "Rock, are you-" Rock cut Dynamo off, moving forward daringly and kissed him back the way Dynamo had kissed him earlier.

At first Dynamo was stunned. Rock had gone from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other within seconds, looking shocked, horrified, scared, terrified, excited, and now.. well, he couldn't really read Rock's mood right now. Slowly, he regained his senses, and came to the realization that Rock really didn't know how to kiss. That would be easy AND fun to fix. His fingers found their way back into Rock's hair, and he kissed that hot little mouth back, forcing the action back into Rock's mouth and out of his own. Slowly, he began to correct Rock's tongue, cutting it off when it strayed out of place, helping it along. Within minutes the kiss had become quite good, Rock was a fast learner.

With a gasp, Rock pulled away, reeling from the sensations and the sheer nervousness he was feeling about the situation. Dynamo pouted a little bit; he had been enjoying that....he shifted uncomfortably. Okay, he'd been enjoying that a little too much. Rock didn't notice and wasn't in a position to unless Dynamo chose to show it off....Thank god for small mercies. He blinked, getting slightly nervous as Rock's face flamed and his eyes watered....the boy wasn't going to cry, was he? He hoped like hell he hadn't done anything wrong, but hadn't Rock kissed him back? Still...

"Someone's a little embarrassed," Dynamo teased, noting the smile that crossed Rock's face as he said it. Thank goodness, he was okay with things. "....Well, as long as we're on the subject...sorta....are you anatomically correct?" He half-hoped the answer was no so that he'd stop thinking those evil treacherous thoughts, half-hoped for yes so that he could fuck Rock's brains out in the near future.

Rock blinked. "I think Dr. Light said I was, once, when I asked about something... But...what does that have to do with anything?"

Dynamo facefaulted. ....now he just felt guilt about taking advantage of Rock in that slight way, but..."No reason. Just curious." He murmured, leaning forward and capturing Rock's sweet little mouth again. Damn, the boy was getting really good at that.

He mentally promised himself he wouldn't let this get out of hand. After all, Rock was just so _small...._

---------------

X was panting loudly, raggedly, and he felt him shift up, trying to expel Zero from him. He was tired, damned tired, but Zero knew better than to stay stopped up there like that. He forced himself to move a little, pulling out slowly, enjoying the resistance X's body made, still clenched rather tightly around him. X made a small noise at his withdrawal, and he leaned up to kiss him, surprised to find he was crying, not panting. "... I love you?" He offered quickly, feeling horrible for not noticing X's sobbing. X cried harder and Zero sighed, afterglow wearing off a little faster than he'd hoped. "X... Come on, what's wrong?"

X sobbed harder, burying his face in his hands. This wasn't right. None of it. What had he been thinking, letting Zero do this? Things were fine now, but come morning... God, how was he ever going to face Zero? Their friendship was finished, toast. Still.. Zero had said he loved him.. right? "S-sure you do now.. but what about tomorrow, when you wake up and realized the mistake you made?" He sobbed, rolling away from Zero a little, blushing. "God, what did I do? I.. I never... and with you... damn it!"

Zero stared at him, trying desperately to think of something to say that wouldn't blow up in his face after leaving his lips. "You didn't like it?" Not the wisest choice, but it was better than stating the obvious fact that at least X had finally gotten laid.

God, why didn't he get it? "Of course I did..!" X practically wailed, burying his face in his pillow. "That's the problem! What happens tomorrow, or the day after, when you find some woman you decide you want and you leave me? Are you going to tell her you love her too? You don't love me... Not really. You just think you do, because you don't know any better. To you, it's just another sexual exploit, but to me... I was a virgin! You were my first, and... and..." He trailed off, voice breaking.

Zero sighed, running a hand through his hair. Definitely should have talked to him first. "X... Come on, did you hear what I said..?" Fuck... what was he supposed to say? What could he say? He'd never run into this problem before. Not with anyone he cared for.

X suddenly struggled underneath him, and Zero was pushed off of him. X sat up in bed. "L-look, I'll just leave, okay? You got what you wanted." He muttered. "I'm....Why did....never mind." Zero felt instantly horrible. Fuck.... He frowned, pulling X back down on the bed, hugging him close and kissing him softly. Damn if X was leaving before they worked things out.  
  
"Listen....X...." X kept crying, trying to push him away. "No, really, listen to me. I love you. ....I.... you love me, don't you?" Had Dynamo been lying? Had he really fucked things up?

X looked up at him, then looked away, calming down just a little. "I..... I love you...." It was quietly said, but Zero found himself grinning. Why had those few words made him feel happier than he had in.... years, almost?

Another kiss, this time with X responding slightly. "Good...." Zero purred, nuzzling his new lover and hugging him close, arms wrapped around the smaller man tightly. What to say, what to say... he sighed. Here went nothing. "I love you too, X. And I really mean that. Well... you know I care about you.... I've died for you... so don't think I'd purposely fuck over our friendship by saying I loved you romantically. I really mean it. I'm not stupid, X. I know this.... could be rough. But are you willing to give it a try...?" He nuzzled X softly, seeing no response, and squirmed. "I'm not going to see other people." He grinned suddenly, and winked, giving X a small pinch on the ass. "I've just barely started with you. Glad it was fun... I'll make the next time even better."

Did Zero...really mean that...? X wanted it to be true... if Zero really loved him.... he felt ready to cry again. "Hey, no rush.... just... try it?" Zero sounded hopeful, still smiling at him, and he planted another kiss on X. "Why don't we get some rest, and work things out when we're less tired." X found himself nodding, trying to roll away and was very surprised when Zero held on, nuzzling him and murmuring softly, already asleep. X blushed, wrapping an arm around Zero, and fell asleep, hoping a little now that Zero did love him.

---------------

The first thing Rock felt when he woke up was pain. A lot of pain. He groaned, unable to move, and felt like crying. Why did it hurt so much? ....Oh. His eyes shot open, noting that he lay on the bare, warm chest of his roommate, and that they were both naked. He remembered now. Everything. And he turned very, very red. Rock shifted in Dynamo's grip, noting how the pain worsened when he tried to move his hips or lower back. It felt like there were bruises on his hips, even. There probably were, now that he thought about it...probably in the shape of handprints.

He glanced up at Dynamo, nervous, noticing that the man was still very much asleep and cuddling up to him with a small smile on his unconscious face. That made Rock smile. He had made Dynamo happy, and that meant a lot to him; the man worked so hard to please him, and Rock had always felt that he wasn't giving enough back. Now he had found something he could easily do to make his friend very happy, and he enjoyed it to boot. The smile on his face bloomed into a grin as Dynamo stirred.

"Good morning." He said quietly.

Dynamo grunted, releasing Rock from his grasp and propping himself up with one arm, ruffling the boy's hair with the other. He glanced down at Rock, vaguely noted that he was naked, and was halfway out of bed before what he'd done yesterday hit him. Holy crap.

Dynamo turned on his heel, rather sharply, and stared down at Rock, disbelievingly. He had actually slept with him. He had fucked Rock. He sighed softly. At least Rock didn't look mad at him. Quite the contrary, actually. If anything, he seemed to have twice as much affection from him than before. He looked him over, guiltily. The boy was bruised in a few rather inappropriate places, including between his reddened ass cheeks. "How are you feeling?" He asked finally, returning his gaze to Rock's face. He noticed Rock's refusal to move, and knew he had to be in a lot of pain.

Rock lowered his upper torso again, resting on the bed, nuzzling the warm spot where Dynamo had been. "It hurts a lot, and I can't move very well." He stared up at him pitifully, happy to have someone who worried, and cared, and would possibly take care of him. He sighed softly, feeling Dynamo's fingers run up his back softly, and gave him a small smile. "I'm hungry." He whimpered softly.

Dynamo sighed, not really wanting to go all the way down to the cafeteria to get something for Rock to eat, but he knew there was no way Rock was going to get out of bed today. Not willingly, at least. "Alright... What do you want to eat? Some toast? A bagel?" Please let it be something small and easy. His agitation grew as he realized that there was no way he was going to get off that easily. He knew that tentative smile Rock now held on his face.

"Well... It's not in the cafeteria...." Rock started with. "And I'm going to be bored..."

Dynamo had a sickening feeling he was going to spend his morning shopping.

------------------  
  
The next morning, X blinked, nuzzling up to his pillow....and noticed, with an unpleasant jolt in his gut that Zero wasn't there. Fuck....what had he been thinking? Of course, Zero had just wanted to get laid, and now he'd left – no subtle hint there – and was probably.... X blinked, smelling something in the air.... Cooking breakfast? Yes, that was definitely Zero in the kitchen, with the occasional curse as he burned himself or bumped into something. ....Oh. He blushed, sitting up and wincing. After a couple aborted attempts to get up and walk to him, X sighed and lay down. God, was he sore. He felt his face burn at the thought. Maybe he should just wait for Zero to notice....

Zero grinned, still nude. He'd convince X he loved him if it was the last thing he did. After waking up and finding that he had indeed scored with X, and it hadn't been a weirdly realistic wet dream, he'd spent the morning watching X sleep. It had been.... calming... though after he'd gotten up he'd gloated. Well, come on, who wouldn't? He now had a lover who was not only his best friend, and tight and energetic in the sack; he had the smug knowledge that X was _all_ his, and loved him to boot. ....of course, he was embarrassingly giddy about that last part.... but Zero wasn't whipped yet, he just loved X a hell of a lot. He blushed, and coughed. Time to bring X breakfast in bed.

He dragged a plate of food for X into the room, coupled with a glass of orange juice and stopped, surprised to find X awake and staring at him. "Oh... Good morning." He smiled widely, shot him a little wink, and cursed inwardly. X looked damned sore, and he only hoped he hadn't done something wrong and really hurt him. "I made bacon and eggs.. Toast too. Want some?" He set the plate down by X and mused at how clever he had been to scrape the burnt surface of the toast away. He was no great chef, but hey, he'd put a lot of effort into cooking something nice for his lover, and his food was decent.

X smiled gratefully, starving, and began to eat quietly, not sure what to say to Zero now. "It's good." He mumbled softly, and decided to leave it at that. He was tired, and aching, and Zero could start some conversation if he wanted it that badly. He was content just having Zero close by, knowing he hadn't been abandoned and Zero cared enough to cook for him. Zero seemed to sense this, because suddenly he was lying next to him, feeding him and playing with his hair, completely mellow. Mellow on Zero was... Weird. But X wasn't about to complain.

He finished his food quickly, Zero occasionally sneaking little bits off his plate, and set the plate and glass to the side. Slowly, Zero shifted up, hugging onto him and nuzzling his neck softly, nipping at it lightly. X blushed and squirmed a little, feeling Zero leaving more hickeys than last night. "Zero.... why are you...?" He didn't finish his question, too busy being kissed hotly. "mmh..."

Zero broke the kiss suddenly, planting a smaller one on X's forehead, then sighed. Damn, he was acting weird.... even he knew it. No wonder X was confused. "Uhh.... I dunno...." He shrugged a little and hugged X close, nuzzling him a little. "....trust me, I'm as confused as you are. I guess... because I want to? Fuck, I dunno. Never felt like this before." He grumbled a little, pulling away and sulking slightly. ".....Hell, even saying that is weird. I blame you for it."  
  
For some reason, X found himself smiling. Zero was rather cute when he sulked. "....I love you..." He said quietly, seeing Zero's eyes light up and a brief flicker of a smitten grin before the blonde went back to his sulking. This was kind of... amusing.

"Love you too..." Zero muttered, moving in to nuzzle his neck some more, sliding his hands down to grope X's ass. There was a wince and a small whimper. Damn. He had hurt X. He slid his hands back up, wrapping his arms around X's waist and.... blinked, shifting his crotch away. Damnit! Why did X have to be so damned arousing? X blinked and looked at him, hearing him curse quietly.  
  
"uhh..." Shit... something to say, something to say... "I know you're sore.... but I guess my chances of getting head are low too, aren't they." He sighed. That wasn't the best thing to say.

X stared at Zero in disbelief. He had not just asked for head after realizing X was too sore for sex. Shit. This was Zero, of course he had asked. He opened his mouth to deny him it and give him a verbal thrashing, then blinked. Well... Zero _had_ given him head before he'd done anything to him the night before. Maybe...

"Well... Alright."

Holy shit! Had X agreed to give him head like that? Fuck, maybe this really _was _a wet dream. Zero worked his jaw, trying to say something, but X was pulling the covers down, and leaning him back, so talking would probably have been a bad idea anyway.

--------

X sighed heavily, face flaming red. He was really going to have to learn to be better at this. He hadn't reacted in time and now......god, it was all over his _face...._

Zero was staring at him smugly, and he felt his face burn. Like hell was he going to let himself be embarrassed like this, and he trailed a finger over the small gobs, licking them slowly and enticingly from his finger. This had a much better effect, and Zero's jaw dropped as he watched X at play.

Fuck, X looked hot. He noted with satisfaction that X seemed to enjoy his taste, which only served to make the blonde hot again. "... So?"

X blushed, finishing licking up the come on his face, smiling a bit shyly and leaning in to kiss his lover. "Mmh..." He smirked a little. "You taste good." Zero moaned and pulled him close, kissing him hotly, and X returned it eagerly, feeling more confident now that Zero wasn't going to run off on him and leave him.

Suddenly, Zero broke the kiss, sighing and pulling X into his lap, patting his ass gently. "As fun as that is.... I have the feeling you might not want to get me going again." He smirked a little, seeing his lover turn bright red again – fuck, he looked cute when he blushed – and gave his ass a quick grope, pleased when he didn't flinch or whimper in pain. His treacherous, evil mind informed him that this meant X was less sore, and X being less sore meant he could- he stopped thinking about it.

X sighed, leaning against his friend and feeling the blonde finally hug him close, the strong, warm arms making him feel.... safe, strangely enough. He was careful not to wriggle too much in Zero's lap, not wanting to get him hard again. Sure, he was less sore now, but Zero would probably incapacitate him for the rest of the day if he let him fuck him again. He'd wait a while.

Cuddling was fine for a while, but X was suddenly struck with a thought. He sat up straight. How could he have...? Damnit! "Fuck." He groaned, slapping a hand over his eyes and ignoring Zero's confused look. "Uhm.... I think I might have to leave for a while, Zero... I, uh... when I was sulking, I really hurt Rock by pushing him away.... would you mind if I go and talk to him for a minute...?"

Zero blinked, shrugging a little. "Sure.... just come back soon, okay?" He planted another kiss on X, pleased with how X responded eagerly. He was too happy at the moment to be upset with Rock and his weird behavior. "Mmmh.. I love you." He grinned and patted X's ass, watching him blush and get up, getting dressed slowly and obviously sore. He grinned even more when he saw the handprint-shaped bruises on X's hips, and the hickeys all over him. X was his, and those marks proved it.

"I love you too." X finished dressing, kissing Zero hotly, suddenly feeling rather giddy. "Maybe when I get back we can play around some more." X blushed and smiled, pleased when Zero grinned and pulled him close, kissing him deeply and slowly. "...bye." He kissed his new lover one last time, heading out slowly and glancing over his shoulder occasionally, trying not to break out into happy giggles as he left Zero's room.

Things were going so perfect! He hadn't felt this good in a long time, and now he was going to right things with Rock, then tell him all about him and Zero. He only hoped Rock was accepting of their relationship. Rock wasn't exactly fond of the blonde, after all.

Well, here went nothing. He knocked on the door lightly, waiting for a response and surprised not to get one. Rock always sprung up and got the door whenever someone visited. Shit... Rock was probably really mad at him, for being such a jerk the other night. He took a deep breath, taking on his gentlest voice, and tried him again. "Rock..? Are you there? Please let me in."

------------------

Rock lay, half on his stomach, half on his side, and stared at the door, waiting for Dynamo to return. He knew he wouldn't be back for hours, but felt the need to keep a constant vigil, just in case he returned early, despite his exhaustion. His eyes were fighting to stay closed for the fourth time that morning, when a soft rapping on the door woke him up. Why was Dynamo knocking? It was his room.

"Rock..? Are you there? Please let me in." His head shot up a little. It was X. "I'm sorry I was so rude to you yesterday. Rock?"

X tapped nervously on the door, fidgeting a little and hoping that Rock was in there; he felt very guilty for shunning his brother just because he was angsting over something he should have noticed years ago. And besides the apology, he also had to somehow tell his brother about the little shift in his relationship with Zero. He called for Rock one more time, pondering the depressing possibility that he wasn't in his and Dynamo's shared room. He sighed, and was just about to leave when there was a faint 'come in' from inside. Relieved, he opened the door, pleased to find it unlocked.

He sighed as he entered, turning to close the door behind him. "Uh, like I was saying..." He turned around....and stared. Rock was laying on the bed, bare-ass naked, and with bruises in very strange places. X gaped, wondering what had happened to his poor, innocent brother, and noticed suddenly with a horrible shock that the bruises were very familiar. They were rather like the ones X was sporting underneath his clothes, though....jeez, Rock was just a kid! Who would possibly....his eyes widened incredibly.

"Rock! What happened to you? Who...." X spluttered, searching for words. "Did _Dynamo _do that to you?"

Rock yawned, shifting around where he lay but not getting up. "Uh huh." He blinked, eyes wanting to close. "He's gonna be back...soon." Another yawn. "'m tired."

X bit his lower lip, staring horrified at Rock's abused little body. And Dynamo was coming back? His protective instincts kicked into overdrive. "Well then...you just go to sleep, Rock. I'll keep a look out for Dynamo." He walked over and gently covered the boy with the sheets, hiding those horrible bruises. "Don't worry about a thing." Because he'd fucking **kill** that bastard mercenary the minute he saw him.

Rock smiled at him, nodding slowly. "Okay... I'm just gonna take a little nap...." He shifted a little, settling into a comfortable spot in the bed, and whimpered a little. Within minutes, he was fast asleep, breathing deeply and slowly, a faint smile on his lips.

X was, to put things lightly, furious. How DARE Dynamo touch his brother like this! Rock was so sweet, and innocent, and...... God! He shook his head slowly, not wanting to even _think_ about _how_ they had done it. Rock was so tiny, and Dynamo... Well, he even dwarfed Zero, who in turn, dwarfed X. He imagined Rock would be asleep for awhile now. Slowly, he paced the room, wanting to sit down next to Rock and soothe him as he slept, but he didn't want to move the bed too much, in fear of causing him pain, plus he wanted to be on his feet and ready when Dynamo finally returned. That lousy, rotten, no good scumbag. That... That... pedophile!

"Hey, X!" One lousy, rotten, no good scumbag announced behind him, sounding surprised. "What're you doing-" He stopped mid-sentence, and decided it wouldn't be wise to speak at that particular moment. mainly because X had his buster aimed at him, the end of the barrel resting against his forehead. "Um... Did I catch you at a bad time?" He hoped to whatever deity would listen that X wasn't mad over what he thought X was.

Slowly, X's fingers pressed against his lips, ordering him to be silent. "Rock's asleep. You don't want to wake him up, right?" Dynamo shook his head no, slowly. He certainly didn't want to wake Rock up, especially if this was the penalty he'd have to face. "You never know what kind of wild stories he might start going on about. Wild stories with say, physical evidence to back them up!" He was all but shaking in anger.

"Oh... Fuck." Dynamo both thought and muttered aloud. He was busted. Screwed, and not in a pleasant way.

"I'm giving you one chance to explain yourself, and then I'm going to shoot you." X said, with as much calm as he could muster. "I'm going to maim you at the very least, so if I don't like your explanation I'm going to leave you alive to suffer, you damned pedophile." X shuddered slightly, making a face. "I don't even want to know how you managed it."

Dynamo cringed. "Uh. Fuck. Uhm." He glanced over at Rock, wishing like hell that the boy would wake up but knowing there was no chance of that. "....He started it!" And when X glared at him, "Well, it's just that, I, uh...." It occurred to Dynamo that there was really no way to defend himself without Rock to back him up. you at least wait until Rock wakes up? I swear, he'll vouch for me." X glared at him skeptically. "Hey! I'm may kill shit, but I'm not a rapist! Stop looking at me like that!"

"Fine." X stated coldly. "I can wait." Dynamo heaved a tremendous sigh of relief, slumping down onto the floor. Safe. X didn't go against what he said, ever. "But while we're waiting..." With a growing feeling of worry, Dynamo stared up at the looming figure of a very, very pissed off X.

---------------

Rock stirred. He thought he'd heard Dynamo's voice. Slowly, he blinked his eyes open....and lifted his upper body off the bed, shocked, ignoring the pain. "X! What are you doing?" Rock was horrified.

X turned and stared at him, dropping Dynamo from the stranglehold he'd had him in. "Nothing." On the floor, Dynamo coughed and cursed. Shit, X was a fucking sadist. "Do you mind explaining in a little more detail why Dynamo gave you those bruises?" He stomped on the back of Dynamo's neck to prevent the mercenary from standing up. "He didn't.....force you to do anything, did he? Because if he did I promise you he'll die painfully."

Rock stared at X in action, and suddenly understood why Dr. Light had wanted him to sleep so long, and have a good conscience. If placed in the wrong situation without the ability to think clearly for himself, X could be deadly. "X...." His eyes filled with tears, and he was afraid. X was going to kill Dynamo, and in front of him at that. Dynamo tried to turn and look at Rock, but X's other foot found his head first, and forced it in the other direction, so Rock could explain what happened without any intimidation. Rock's face was tear streaked, and he kept trying to get up, wishing his body would obey him. "Don't hurt him!! X!!!"

X sensed the alarm in Rock's voice, and lifted his foot of Dynamo's spine. "Don't move or I'll make you stay still." He walked over to Rock, who was shaking and crying, horrified that he hadn't been able to help his friend, and sat down next to him. "Rock... Did he hurt you? Did he force you to do things with him?"

"Don't hurt him, X, don't hurt him!" Rock pleaded, his head finding it's way into X's lap, and he wiped his eyes, still crying softly. Of course Dynamo had hurt him. That had been the single most painful thing he had ever experienced. "Yeah, it hurt a lot." Rock nodded slowly, calming down now that X wasn't being so outright murderous. "And he kinda forced me to do stuff...But I didn't know what to do. He just started kissing me, and then..." Rock wasn't even sure how to explain what they had done.

Dynamo, meanwhile, remained where he lay, dying several small deaths. _CHRIST_, Rock needed to work on his diplomacy. Or learn to outright lie. He really could have explained that better. Great, there went his last hope. His head was under the guillotine, and Rock was sharpening the blade.

X twitched slightly. "So....he hurt you and he made you do things, but...you don't want me to hurt him?" He said it slowly, not seeing the logic there but leaning towards doing what Rock wanted. "Rock, you shouldn't let him intimidate you. I could take him out easily!" He waved his buster in Dynamo's general direction. "What if he does it again? Where will you be then?"

From the floor, Dynamo coughed. "Christ, X, I thought you were a pacifist."

"Shut up or you'll be missing a limb." X said calmly. "Rock....Rock, it's okay." He patted his brother slowly on the back, suddenly feeling horribly guilty for making him cry. "I'm just worried about you. I don't want you to get into trouble or get hurt." Slowly, Rock sniffled and felt a little better about X's actions, though not by much. It helped to know that X had been worried, and by the tone of his voice he had been - or rather, was - extremely concerned.

"No, no, it's okay!" Rock looked pleadingly up at X, wishing that he could move and help Dynamo up. "Dynamo's not a bad person, you don't need to hurt him or-" He couldn't bring himself to speak the thought of his brother killing Dynamo. "He said he loved me." Rock murmured.

Over on the floor, Dynamo started wishing X would just kill him and get it over with. It was better than that.

Ah. X relaxed ever-so-slightly, casting a suspicious and curious glance over at the prostrate form of Dynamo. Love? From HIM? For...he looked at Rock, not really sure what to make of the situation. "I see." He said, trying desperately to think of something neutral to say. "Is that so, Dynamo? .......On second thought, you'd say yes no matter what. Never mind." He stood up, looking over his shoulder at Rock, noting the dismayed expression on his brother's face. "I'm sorry, Rock, I just don't really trust Dynamo, and I have known him longer than you. I don't really know what to say. Dynamo, you know what will happen if it turns out you're hurting my brother...." X walked over and picked Dynamo up off the floor with one hand, leaning in close to whisper in the mercenary's ear. "And I swear to god that if you hurt him emotionally, I'm going to rip off your dick."

X backed away and smiled, anger simmering under the surface. Damn, damn, _damn_ Dynamo. X didn't believe for an instant that the mercenary was in love with Rock, but...he looked over at his brother, and the hopeful look on his face. "I'll talk to you later, Rock. We...need to talk. And not about this, either." Rock nodded, the hopeful look blooming into a small smile. "See ya."

-------------------------------

Ending Author's Notes: .......well, we warned you about the Dynamo/Rock stuff. Don't say you didn't see it coming. And you_ read_ it. Perverts.

Nah, we love you. Show the love back. Review and we shall spread the joy all over.


	5. Bad Stuff Happens

Odds and Ends Chapter Five

Author's Notes: Oh my. We updated. Uh....sorry this took so long.... our bad. We'll do better next time, promise!

Read and review! We will love you forever if you review!

* * *

"Bye, X!" Rock waved, then held his arms up expectantly. Everything was well again. Dynamo was back home and had treats for him, X wasn't mad anymore, and had cheered up greatly. "I'll come visit tonight, and we can talk!" X leaned down, to hug him, and Rock clasped onto him then kissed his cheek affectionately. Settling down onto the bed again, he allowed X to tuck him in, then watched him leave, face content, and waited for Dynamo to get up and come to him.

X stormed down the hallway back to Zero's room, cursing quietly and glaring the whole way. He was going to kill Dynamo the first chance he got. He wrenched the door open, slamming it loudly behind him, seeing Zero jump a little from where he was sitting on the couch. "X? What happened?" Zero got up hesitantly, not liking how X was about as pissed as he'd ever seen him. "Did things go badly with Rock?" He asked, very carefully pulling his lover into a gentle hug.

He blinked, feeling X trembling a little, less angry and more upset. Damn, what was wrong? He tried again. "X, what-"  
  
"Dynamo fucked Rock, that's what's wrong!" X suddenly cried, expression caught between horror, disgust, and disbelief. Zero blinked. That was just....weird. And disturbing. "I just...walked in, and he was lying there _naked_ and _bruised!_" X wailed, clinging to him suddenly and Zero stayed quiet, letting him get it out and hugging him tightly. Damn, he'd never taken Dynamo for a pedophile. You thought you knew a guy....

But that aside, X was really upset, something Zero hated to see. He sighed, pulling his distressed friend into the bedroom again, sitting him down and kissing him hotly. He pulled away, planting another kiss on X's forehead. "Shh.... it's okay.... We'll go kick Dynamo's ass later, how does that sound? Fucking pervert." He made a disgusted face, then nuzzled X lightly. "Just calm down, okay? You're really stressed and upset...."  
  
X closed his eyes, taking a couple deep breaths, and Zero blinked, finding himself suddenly pounced, X kissing him hotly and straddling his lap, pushing him back on the bed. Zero moaned eagerly, slipping a hand up X's shirt. This was a much better way of venting stress. Maybe X wasn't too sore, and they could have more sex. He certainly hoped so; a make-out session was nice, but if X was fun when he was weakly upset, when he was eager he'd be one hell of a fuck.

* * *

Dynamo walked over to Rock slowly, face livid. "Rock... Why did you tell him that?!" He couldn't believe Rock had thrown him to the wolves, when he needed the boy to back him up. "Whose side are you on, anyway?" Rock smiled at him innocently, and he found he couldn't stay mad. He should have known Rock would tell X the truth, no matter how bad it made Dynamo look.

"Tell him what?" He asked, curiously. "And I'm on the Hunter's side." Dynamo sat down beside him, and he shuffled closer until his head resting against Dynamo's thigh. It was soft, and warm, and he felt safe and secure. "Did you bring me something to eat?" He asked finally. He twice as hungry as before, and looking forward to whatever Dynamo had foraged for him.

"Yeah, yeah..." Dynamo grumbled, looking around for the bag he'd had before X had begun throttling him, finding it near the bed, and stretched, snatching it up, then pulled out some obscure cereal he'd never heard of in his life, yet contained enough sugar to fill a warehouse in it, a banana, some crackers, and some juice boxes. Rock seemed delighted with Dynamo's findings, and began to feast, head still rested on his leg.

Sighing, Dynamo patted Rock gently on the back, hand slowly running over the boy's small shoulders. X was going to kill him one of these days, it was only a matter of his finding an excuse. He looked down at Rock's bruised body, noting with a twinge of guilt that it looked a lot worse than he'd originally thought. Maybe there was a bit of a reason to be mad at him. But still, it wasn't like the boy hadn't enjoyed it.

He shifted where he sat, noting how Rock was nuzzling happily up against his thigh, having decimated the food he'd been given in an incredibly short amount of time. Some treacherous part of his mind thought 'well...his mouth still works...'

But no. He wasn't that much of a lecher. Dynamo also didn't want X to have an excuse - or more of one - to hurt him. "So....what do you want to do for the rest of the day?" There really wasn't much they could do, with Rock incapacitated. Dynamo just hoped it wouldn't be something that would need him to go out and get more stuff. The thought of possibly facing X without Rock to defend him was frightening. And sad. Since when did he need protection from X?

Rock thought about that for a minute. He really didn't want to get up if he didn't have to, and lots of fun things required movement. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he thought of something.

Dynamo cringed, he grunted, he tried every method he knew to distract Rock. God, not this. Anything but this!! For a fleeting moment, he almost wished for X's company. "Are you sure you want to play monopoly?" He practically whimpered. Rock nodded enthusiatically, and Dynamo realized he had no choice. Rock looked so enthusiastic, so happy, so... cute that Dynamo figured it was the least he could do for the guy, after bruising him up so terribly. "Alright, alright.. But I want to be the shoe." It didn't really matter what piece he was, really, he just wanted to retain some control over his situation. He tried to remember who had given him the game, so he could give them a proper thank you later- namely, a kick in the ass.

"Okay." Rock already had the hat in his hand, and the cards set up. He set his piece down at the Go square, and continued to smile at Dynamo until he did the same, practically beaming. "Do you wanna go first?" Dynamo grunted and picked up the dice. Of course he didn't want to go first. He didn't want to go at all. This was going to be a long fucking day..

* * *

Zero panted lightly, staring down at his lover. Fuck.... that had been fucking great. He pulled out slowly, watching smugly as X drifted off. Damn, he was good... he sighed, rolling off of him before hugging his lover close, nuzzling X's neck as he slept. He felt more content than he had in a long time, cuddled up to his best friend after a round of damned good sex, burying his face in X's hair and breathing in his scent. It wouldn't be hard to get used to this... in fact, he wondered how he could go without it, now that he'd given being with X a try.

He grinned contently, yawning lightly, and hugged X closer, resting a hand on his ass. Outside he could hear people already stirring, wondering what the hell all the noise had been. Fuck them. He was tired, he was content as hell, and he was sated after a round of extremely hot, rough sex. Slowly Zero drifted off to sleep, smirking and nuzzling X.

It was a few hours later when X woke up, hearing knocking. He groaned and tried to roll over to check the clock, but Zero was hugging him tightly, arms wrapped around his waist and a hand on his extremely sore ass. Was that Rock already...? No, it couldn't be, he'd only been asleep for a couple of hours, and if he was sore he couldn't imagine how bad it was for Rock....

Sighing, he squirmed out of Zero's grip, reluctant to leave the warm, comfortable bed, and even more reluctant to get up and walk around. He groaned lightly, pulling on some pants carefully, not bothering with his boxers. God, that hurt.... he sighed, rubbing his ass, and hobbled over to answer the door.  
  
"X? X, are you in there?" Alia's voice was worried. "I heard from someone that the yelling from a while ago was coming from here.... are you okay? Are you there?" X felt his face simply burn, and wished he'd brought a shirt.

"I'm fine, Alia....uh... just a second...." He dashed back into the bedroom, pulling on a shirt and smiling a little at Zero, who was now spread out on the bed, hugging a pillow and grumbling. After placing a small kiss on his new lover, X walked back out and opened the door, face still burning. "Hey..." Fuck.... the hiccies.... he saw her eye dart to his neck and lowered his head, rubbing his neck with one hand to cover the marks. "Come on in.." His face was simply burning. Alia knew, he could tell....

"Something wrong, X?" Alia sighed, walking in and patting his shoulder. "You don't seem all that well..." Holy shit, she didn't know. In fact, she sounded worried.... shit, what rumors were going around now? "And what was that yelling?"

"Uhh....." X sighed, taking his hand away from his neck and pulling Alia over to the couch, sitting down with her. "I don't really know how to say this.... uhm...." His face felt like it was about to melt off, but if anyone deserved to know – besides Rock – Alia did. She was his friend, after all, even if she was going to squeal, when she found out he and Zero had made love the night before.

This immediately peaked Alia's curiosity. This was something big, if X was even hiding it from her. "What is it? Is it good or bad?" She patted his back softly, instantly worrying for her friend.

X could feel his face redden as he forced the words out. "Well, you see... It started last night. Zero and I... made lo-"

_"Oh my Gooood!"_ She squealed loudly, not bothering to wait for the rest of his sentence. X and Zero had sex with _each other_ and she'd missed it? Instantly her mind was whirling with plans to rig their rooms up with cameras... In fact, one pointing right here would be lovely, in case they found the need to... "This is so great! I'm so happy for you, X!" She pulled the shocked and bewildered man close and hugged him contently.

Good god, Alia was possibly more excited about the change in Zero and X's relationship than Zero and X were. X tried to peel the elated woman off him as she rambled endlessly about weddings and yaoi, asking if they'd let her take pictures of them. He couldn't resist a small smile. Alia had always been this way, as far back as he could remember, and she'd always suggested Zero as a good choice for a lover.

Lover. He still couldn't believe it. The word sounded so wonderful, and suddenly he found himself daydreaming, imagining Zero holding him, caressing him in places he'd never given much thought to prior...

"X dear, you're blushing!" Alia giggled, tapping his nose gently. This was just far too cute. How long had she been telling X to get together with his best friend? Things just couldn't get more perfect, and X was.... X was... Well now. He really didn't look too enthused, for finally finding a lover and losing his virginity.

She bit her lip, suddenly regretting getting so excited. X hadn't said they were a couple. What if it had only been a one night stand? No... Zero wouldn't do that to X. So what was bothering him so much?

"X... Is everything alright?" She asked, now worried again. "You're happy about this, right? I know something's bothering you." She patted him gently, awaiting an answer, and wondering what could have him so down and out.

In the bedroom, Zero groaned, woken by the squealing. Fuck, who was that...? Never mind, he recognized the voice. Alia. And X had probably told her, or she'd found out, which wouldn't be hard considering he'd left so many marks on X. He smirked to himself at that thought, rather pleased, then blinked and listened, hearing X's voice drift in through the slightly open door.

"I.... I really love him, Alia..." X's voice was hesitant and quiet, and Zero blinked, wondering why Alia wasn't squealing at that comment and why X sounded like that. "It's just... he said he loves me, and maybe he does for now, but what will happen when someone else comes along...? You know... he's just so fickle... The next minute a pretty woman comes along I'll just be a friend again, and I don't want that."

Shit. Zero slumped back in bed, feeling horrible. Fucking reputation...he didn't want X to doubt him. He sighed, feeling a renewed determination to gain X's trust, and listened in on their conversation.

Alia blinked, feeling her eyes start to water, and hugged X close. "Aww, sweetie... don't think like that. Zero may be a complete idiot sometimes...but you know he cares about you, right?" X nodded slowly, and Alia continued. "Give him the benefit of the doubt. He knows enough to understand that just having sex with you would screw up your friendship... most likely he means it."  
  
"You....really think so...?" The wavering hope in X's voice hurt. Owch. Zero sighed and got up, pulling on some boxers. Bless Alia a thousand times for helping him with this... he'd have to take pictures of them sometime for her. He smirked, yawning and wandering out, flopping down on the couch next to X.

X blushed, seeing Alia's eyes light up as Zero pulled him close – into his lap, even- and nuzzled the back of his neck, hugging him close. "Mmph." Zero muttered, hot breath puffing over his neck and making him squirm, wincing a little. "I love you..." He sighed, hugging his lover close and petting him softly.

God, this was priceless. Alia grinned, seeing X struggling between resisting Zero's embrace and melting into it. Damn, why hadn't she brought a camera? This was just too rich. X yelped a little and blushed worse as Zero nipped at his neck, hugging him close and nuzzling him. "Uhh... well... uh... I..." X struggled for words, making Alia grin even more. ".....loveyoutoo..." He murmured quietly, trying to ignore how wide Alia's grin had gotten.

"See? Nothing to worry about, X." She patted him a little, winking. People-especially Zero- did not just cuddle and nuzzle a one night stand the day after, much less profess love. And since she'd heard yelling twice.... that meant they'd.... yeah, she was damned sure X had nothing to worry about. It was just up to Zero to prove himself. Wouldn't take long, she bet.

"Uh, I should probably tell you the other thing, Alia..." X sighed, giving in and melting back into Zero's embrace, nuzzling him back a little and collecting a kiss on the cheek where he was blushing. He took a deep breath, describing what he'd found in Dynamo's room that morning.

Alia stared, then opened her mouth. Then stared more. "... Is this a joke?" She asked finally. She already knew by the expression on X's face that it was true. God, what was Dynamo thinking?

"It's true." X mumbled, sighing softly. "You should have seen him. He was so...." He bit his lip, trying to relax. No, he wasn't going to ruin his mood over this. Not while Rock wasn't even there.

Sure, he'd always been on the annoying side, acting as more of a hindrance than a help most of the time, but he'd never seemed the type to... Hell, she'd even dated him. Rock was so sweet and innocent, how could he... "That... That...!" she cursed loudly.

"I just thought I should tell you." X mumbled, feeling bad for having to be the bearer of bad news. He leaned back more, glancing over at the clock. "Anyway, sorry to cut the visit short, but Rock will probably be coming by soon." He paused. "Oh.. and please don't mention this to Rock. He's probably scared enough."

Alia nodded a little, still stunned, her mind in conflict between the very good and extremely bad news she'd just heard. "Alright." She got up slowly. "Just don't go overboard tonight, boys. You have a meeting at 6." She gave them a small wink, then left.

* * *

Rock limped his way down the hall slowly, leaning against the walls heavily, headed toward X's room. His game of monopoly had just ended. He had won, of course. He had gotten very good at the game over the years. He was happy the game was practically ancient, so the rules never changed. It had been a rather easing victory, but he could have sworn Dynamo had been cheating. However, the idea was ridiculous. Dynamo wouldn't cheat, not at some simple game. He was a nice man, and would never sink that low. Those extra bills had ended up in his pile accidentally, he was sure of it.

Stopping at X's door, he leaned against it and knocked lightly, hoping X hadn't gone to bed already. He knew X spent a lot of time out fighting, and it probably tired him out, and he'd hate to disturb his idol while he slept. Keeping his weight on the door, he knocked tentatively, hoping X wanted to talk about something really good, though he doubted it. There was something in pitch of X's voice which worried him. He sensed X was uptight about something, nervous and wanting Rock's approval.

The door opened slowly, revealing a nervous-looking X. The reploid shifted where he stood, gesturing for Rock to come in, and for an instant considered going after Dynamo again as Rock limped slowly in. He was probably in a lot of pain... "Good to see you, Rock." He showed Rock into his small living room, sitting down on the couch and wringing his hands as he tried to figure out how to start the conversation.

Rock sat on the couch gently, wincing slightly at the twinges of pain that shot up him from the contact, blessing the softness of the seating. It could have been worse, he knew. X was looking terribly uncertain, and kept running a hand through his hair nervously. "What's wrong, X?"

"Uh. I. ....Rock, there's something I need to discuss with you." X sighed, then took a deep breath to fortify himself. "What do you think of Zero?"

There was something Rock hadn't expected. "Well, he's really nice, as far as I can see, but...but he makes me nervous." He scooted closer to X, looking up at him adoringly. "But since you think he's alright, I can deal with him. I trust you." He said simply, utter conviction shining in his eyes. "Why do you ask?"

"Hey, X." Rock turned, surprised, towards the door to X's bedroom. His eyes widened incredibly, seeing a very disheveled Zero standing in the doorway wearing only a pair of red boxers. "When are you- oh. Hello, Rock." Zero waved, grinning nervously. "Okay...you're talking. I'll just....wait here, won't I?" X buried his face in his hands and refused to look up, nodding slightly. Rock looked between the now-empty doorway and X, and wondered what the problem was here. Why was X so nervous? He'd just had a sleepover with Zero. Nothing weird about that.

Rock continued to stare at X, waiting for him to tell him what had the guy so upset. "What is it?" He asked again, poking X's hand lightly. Why was he hiding his face like that? X's hand shifted from his face suddenly, gripping Rock's wrist softly, and he looked over at him, smiling weakly yet looking distressed at the same time. This upset Rock, not used to seeing X lose his cool.

"God, Rock. How naive are you?" X managed, then stroked Rock's head softly, smiling a little sadly when Rock cradled his cheek against the outstretched hand, like a content puppy. This was going to hurt Rock, and the poor kid had no idea what was coming. "Rock.. Look. Something happened last night. Something good." He added quickly, seeing the worry in Rock's eyes. "I'm just not sure how you're going to take it. See..." He broke off, and stared into his lap. Rock shifted even closer, practically crawling in his lap, and rested his head against his shoulder. This comforted him a little, and he took a deep breath, then blurted it out. "Rock, I've fallen in love."

Rock perked up at this happily. "Really? Me too! Who are you in love with?" He wondered who it could be. Maybe that Alia girl? Or that Signas guy. He hoped it wasn't.. well.. He just really hoped it was one of them.

X simply stared at him incredulously. Rock had not just said that. "Rock, who do you think?" He sighed, starting to wonder if Rock was really that naive or if he was in denial. When Rock didn't answer, he offered tentatively. "Rock.. I've known Zero a long time... We've been friends practically forever."

Rock stared back at him, eyes wide, and slowly shifted away from X, eyes wide. He didn't mind Zero hanging around X, but this.. this was something completely different. Tears began to pool, held in place by his eyelashes. X couldn't... wouldn't love Zero, not like that. Not after everything he had done. Whether he had changed or not, he was still the one who had slaughtered his friends and family in front of his eyes, who had left him broken and bleeding on the lab floor, trapped under that heavy steal table, vital fluids leaking slowly out...

Suddenly he was on his feet, the pain running up his body unnoticed by him at that moment. "That's a lie!" He screamed hysterically. "It's not true! Zero's a bad man! He.... He......" Rock found himself unable to finish, his body shook with sobs, fear, and several other emotions, and he felt ill.

"Rock.." X's voice was harsh, threatening him to keep down, and very, very waivery.

"I HATE HIM!!!" Rock shrieked, the word sounding alien on his tongue, then turned and ran away, pain or not. He wanted to be alone. He didn't want X, he didn't want Dynamo, he wanted nothing to do with this time or place.

X stood up quickly and reached out for Rock, shocked at the sheer vehemence of his brother's anger. But it was too late; the boy had already dashed out the door faster than X could move. He stood where he was and just hurt for a while, staring where Rock had left. He hadn't expected a reaction quite that bad...he certainly hadn't expected a positive reaction, but something this negative was completely unlike the Rock he knew. He lowered his gaze to the floor, wondering if Rock was deluding himself or if he was right, Zero was a bad person and deserving of hate.

No, no, that wasn't true. X swallowed the lump in his throat. Zero was the best friend he'd ever had, and while he loved his brother, he also couldn't help but love Zero, just in a different way. He felt about as torn as he ever had in his life, and shuddered slightly, not knowing what to do but very tempted to cry. Suddenly there was a quiet shuffling from next to him, and he glanced up to see a very uncomfortable looking Zero.

"He didn't take that very well, did he." Zero stated. X shook his head. "....I'm sorry, X. I guess I could have, I dunno, talked to him some more or something, or..."

Now X _really_ felt like crying. Apologizing for anything was completely unlike Zero. "Shut up." He muttered, walking a couple of steps over to cling to Zero and bury his face in his boyfriend's neck. "There wasn't anything you could really do. Rock....just doesn't like you, and we'll have to find out why." He let out a shuddering sigh. And something clicked in his mind. "Dynamo might know."

Zero nodded slightly. X was on a mission, and he knew damn better than to try and sway him. Zero didn't trust Dynamo, especially since what X had told him that afternoon, when he came storming into his quarters. Therefore, any information coming from the guy, especially information about himself was not to be trusted. X didn't see it this way, however, and not wanting to see X blow up, he had no choice but to listen to more of Dynamo's bullshit. "Alright." He nodded slightly. "Let me just get changed."

"Later." X muttered distractedly, and grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him out into the hall. Zero had just enough time to call his armor on and close the door, at X's tether. They reached Dynamo's room within a minute, but to X it seemed an eternity. He'd seen the direction Rock had left in, and it wasn't toward Dynamo. In fact, he seemed to be headed for the stairs. X began to kick himself mentally for giving Rock such a thorough tour of the place. Reaching the door, he tugged at the handle, then began banging on it. "Dynamo!! Open up!!"

He growled with a viciousness that unnerved even Zero, and was about to give the door a swift kick when he heard a calm "Where's Rock?" Behind him. X turned, surprise to see Dynamo standing behind them, a quizzical look on his face. For the second time that day, Dynamo found X's hands at his throat, only this time they grabbed onto his shirt collar, jerking him closer.

"Why does Rock hate Zero so much?!" X demanded, ignoring the stupefied look on Dynamo's face. "Hurry up and tell me! What happened to make Rock that way!" Dynamo simply averted his eyes. "I know you know what happened! Come on! Tell me so I can go and get him!"

Dynamo was instantly alert, worry flashing in his eyes. "He's gone?" He stared at X, who was so thoroughly upset it almost hurt to look at him, and knew he was still waiting for an answer. "Look... It's not my place to tell you. Ask him about it when you find him."

X growled something under his breath, and Dynamo looked helplessly over at Zero, pleading silently for the blonde's help. Fuck, X scared him, and though he didn't really expect any help from that quarter he could always try, right?

Zero sighed. This was just plain freaky, for X to act this way. He didn't want to see anyone, even Dynamo, at the brunt of that wrath. He sure as hell wouldn't want to face anything like it.... He glared at Dynamo, then strode over to place a calming hand on X's shoulder. "X, let him go. He doesn't have to tell us right now, and we do have to find Rock."

"But, but..." X looked up, frustrated and wanting to do something about it. "Rock won't tell us anything and he won't go anywhere near you." He shook Dynamo violently. "We need to know, Zer-mmph." He let go of Dynamo, hands slipping around Zero's neck as the red hunter kissed him. He pulled away, blushing at the very public display of affection.

Oh thank god, that had worked. An enraged X was something he never wanted to deal with again. Sighing, Zero backed off a little and spoke. "Then I'll stay behind while you go look. You have to remember that Rock's very upset right now and he doesn't know where to go. You have to find him before he gets into trouble or gets hurt or something, okay?" X nodded. "Good." Zero stated, casting a look at Dynamo that clearly said 'you owe me one'. "Get going. You might want to take Dynamo with you; he seems to know Rock really well."

"Right. Hear that? We're going for a little walk, Dynamo." X grabbed Dynamo's wrist, and dragged him off quickly. Dynamo shot Zero a 'thank you' look in return, dreading the day he'd have to return his favour, then began to walk quickly, keeping pace with X.

Rock ran as fast as he could, stumbling in the mud a little. Why did it have to be raining? Checking his GPS, he veered off course slightly, abandoning the path and heading for the underbrush. He ached everywhere, he was cut and scratched up from his slips in the mud, and trips through the trees, and worse of all, he felt crushed. How could X do this to him? To himself? He'd had enough of this, tired of this foreign world he didn't belong in, and was going home. So what if nothing was left? He'd crawl back down to the lab, curl up by the table he had rested under for damned near a century, and let himself rot away.

At least there, he could-

Something struck him, HARD, and he fell back, holding his head and yelping. At first he thought he'd hit a low branch, his eyes still clouded up with tears, then he heard footsteps. Two of them, one in front of him, and one to his left. Panicking, he scrambled to his feet, first running to the left, and hitting something big and metal, he turned, trying for the other direction. He hardly made it three feet, when he felt himself lifted up, arms squeezing him tight around his bruised waist. "LEMME GOOO!!!!!!" He wailed, kicking and flailing. What was happening? He shrieked, wordlessly, as he fought a rather one sided battle against his captor, clueless as to who it was and why they were after him in the first place. What had he done?

He felt himself hoisted up even higher, he had to be over his attacker's head, he could hear harsh breathing beneath him. Suddenly he felt the arms leave him, and he was thrown, the ground rushing up to meet him. Then everything went black, as something collided with his head.

"What do you think? Is it him?" Rock's prone form was turned over slowly in strong arms. "It sure looks like him."

"I think we should take him to see Sigma..."

* * *

Aaaaand that's all you're getting for now. Enjoy! Sorry it took so long to update. We suck.

Reviews are happy.


	6. More Bad Stuff Happens

A/N- Yeah, I suck. ;;; I think I'm the only person in existence who could put off posting a five page chapter that was already written for almost a year. I take total blame for that, it was (past) my turn to do the editing for and throw up a chapter.

There will be no lag after this, for… I fear Shibby. ; She chains me to her desk and beats me every day. Send help! There is no uncensored version for this chapter, for there is no wild mansex in it. You can, however, feel free to review this!

Also, if you did not receive the uncensored stuff for any chapter, leave a review or e-mail us and let us know. There was a bit of a screw up with that (my fault again. ;;) and I didn't keep track of who did and didn't get the uncensored stuff. I'm relatively sure I missed people. So again, let us know and I apologize for all my screw ups! Don't you love my insanely long author's notes? Flees before Shibby wakes up

Gimp

X stormed through the woods, less angry with Dynamo than he was worried about Rock. There was so much that could happen to the boy, so much that he didn't know about, and hadn't they gotten reports of maverick activity lately? He bit his lip until it bled, horrified at the idea that poor, injured Rock could possibly be killed. There was so much danger and the boy wasn't able to defend himself without his armor...

Dynamo stumbled on behind X, wondering how the man managed to move so damn fast through this underbrush. He slumped to the ground, sick of following X, who probably had no clue where they were going. He stared at the churned-up mud a little ways off from him... and kept staring. Looked like there'd been a struggle. Something called his attention..."Uh, X?" Shit, it couldn't be... "I think I know where Rock is." Near where they were walking were Rock's small footprints, and then two sets of much, much larger ones. Crap. Rock had been captured.

Wherever he was, it was dark and he was hurting. A lot. Rock blinked, whimpering a little at the yelling that was going on around him, finally making sense of the words. "NO, that's not HIM, you fucking imbeciles!" Something crashed, and there was a pained yell. Rock cowered, getting more and more afraid. This was...this reminded him a lot of how the lab had been when Zero had attacked. There was the same sense of danger and fear and pain in the air.

"W-where am I?" He whimpered, closing his eyes and not wanting to open them, afraid of what might be there.

"Now, GET OUT OF HERE!" The voice roared, Rock heard retreating footsteps. Lots of them. Hey lay in total silence for what felt like an eternity before a single set of feet made their way over to him. The clicking stopped behind his head, and a dark shadow fell over his face. "Ahh... So you're awake." A deep voice rumbled. Rock squeezed his eyes shut tighter, he no longer wished to know where he was, he wanted to be somewhere, anywhere but here. He let out a loud howl, as he felt a ripping sensation in his skull, and he was forced to a sitting position by someone's grip on his hair. "Now... Mind telling me who you are?"

"He WHAT!" X yelled, face twisted with fury. Shit, shit, SHIT! How could he have let Rock fall into the maverick's hands? What kind of a brother was he? Staring, face inches from the ground, there was no denying it, no matter how hard he tried. "If they harm one hair on his head..." He glared up at Dynamo; for someone who was supposedly in love with Rock he sure wasn't playing the part right. How could he be so... calm? He narrowed his eyes, scanning him over, scrutinizing the taller man. No, not calm. Dynamo's frame was far too rigid, his lips pressed tight in a thin line and slightly off colour. The biggest tip-off the way his hands were curled into fists. With a small sigh, X felt the anger rush out of him, replaced by worry and fear. "... What are we going to do? What if..." He shut his eyes tightly. No. No, Rock was alive. He had to be.

"No, I'm sure he's still alive." Dynamo reassured, sitting down by him. "Rock... Looks a lot like you. They probably took him to Sigma, figuring he'd know how to get you." He scuffed the ground with the toe of his boot, trying to form some kind of a plan. "As long as Rock stays informative, he'll be alright... For now." He turned his head, sighing. "Any ideas for a rescue? I mean, we can't just march in and ask for him."

X sighed. "There really isn't anything." He glanced at Dynamo. "Come on, you're in love with Rock," X made that statement accusing, disbelief apparent in his voice. "AND you know about Sigma's location and base. Can't you think of anything? You've got more information to go on." He watched Dynamo shift around awkwardly. "And for god's sake, don't not do it just because you're afraid Sigma won't hire you anymore. Can you really let Rock get hurt?"

With a sigh, Dynamo racked his brain. He knew where Sigma was, and he did know about the base... "...I could probably get in, but there's no way in hell I could get him out." He thought a little more. "We'd have to do some sort of infiltration, and I think I know how we could pull it off."

Rock stared, terrified, into the glaring face of a very, very large bald man. "Answer me." The man barked, giving Rock a shake. Rock yelped, too scared to really talk, so he just looked up, wide-eyed, at the imposing figure in front of him. "Don't you speak, boy?"

"Y-yes." Rock whimpered, closing his eyes tightly so as not to look at the ugly, cruel face in front of him. This was just as bad as finding out about Zero and X. "I- I... My name is Rock." He whispered, shaking and beginning to sob. He couldn't help it- the man in front of him was just so horribly mean, and something about how he acted and the way he looked made him utterly terrifying. "W-who are you?" He stuttered, blinking his eyes open and feeling a couple tears run down his cheeks. He wished he were anywhere but here, even talking to Zero or something.

There was a loud, unpleasant laugh. "My name, Rock," He said the name slowly, as if savoring the sound. "Is Sigma. I assume you've heard of me. And I have a few more questions for you."

Rock stared, horrified. So, this was Sigma, the man his brother had fought and defeated several times. He was so... He began to cry again suddenly. X... He wanted X more than ever right now; to hug him and protect him from this nasty man. X would protect him the way Blues had once protected him. "I want to go home..." He whimpered, tears streaming down his face.

Sigma laughed and patted him as though he had said something very pleasing. "Very good, that's the spirit. Tell me where 'home' is, and I'll take you there." He soothed. When Rock refused to speak further, his soft caress turned into an iron grip, and he jerked Rock's head back roughly. "Rock, Rock, Rock... You're going to take me there, and there are two ways of going about it. I'm giving you one last chance to tell me, and then things are going to get very ugly.

Rock shuddered softly, trapped in his current position- face upturned, forcing him to stare Sigma in the eye. He knew that if he didn't tell Sigma where the MHHQ was, Sigma was going to torture him until he did. "I don't know..." He lied softly, knowing Sigma wouldn't believe him for a second.

Sigma frowned. "Someone get in here and take him downstairs!" He let Rock go, listening to the resounding thud of his body hitting the table again with a satisfied grin. "You should have told me."

"You are such an idiot." X muttered, sounding muffled within the sack he had been shoved into. "This is your big plan? " He complained. It was cramped, and his chest-plate was digging into his knees. His mood worsened when Dynamo gave his ass a pat, and elbowed the mercenary's back. "Watch what you're touching!"

"Shh.. Just relax, okay? It'll work fine. I was just in here this morning, when I ran Rock's errands for him. I'll tell him I've reconsidered his offer, negotiate with him, and you can get Rock out. I'll drop the sack once we're inside, then you're on your own. " Dynamo was rather proud of his idea, and saw it as a perfectly functioning plan. What could possibly go wrong? He constantly brought things into the fortress with him, so it wouldn't look suspicious.

And later, as Dynamo strode confidently into the base and dropped his burden in an inconspicuous corner, X realized as he climbed out of the sack that no matter how stupid Dynamo might be, he had so much dumb luck it canceled the idiocy out. "Holy heck, I can't believe that worked." He muttered, noting the lack of people around him and ducking around a corner, determined to remain undetected until he found out where Rock was.

Dynamo, for his part, walked confidently down the hallways, striding into Sigma's main chamber and hoping he could negotiate something credible...and maybe well paying, too...and froze as he recognized the small body Sigma was holding. He regained his composure after a second, training his gaze on Rock. "So, what do you have here?" He said casually, walking on over to Sigma and pasting a grin he didn't remotely feel on his face. "Who's that?" He looked at Rock, heart wrenching in his chest as he saw the hurt and despair in those eyes, staring up at him as if to say 'how COULD you?'. "Looks a lot like X."

Sigma looked at Dynamo suspiciously. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to renegotiate that job you wanted me for..." There was a whimper from Rock, and Dynamo was really hoping he could keep acting like this because damn did he feel guilty and terrible. "But this seems interesting, here." He looked at Rock again, making a point to turn away from Sigma and wink at the little guy. Rock sniffled.

"Really." Sigma said, sounding suspicious. "I have a job for you, then." He let go of Rock, and gave Dynamo a shove towards the boy. "Get the information I want out of him. I need to know where he comes from and everything about him. Use the usual means."

With a sick twisting in his gut, Dynamo realized there was no way in hell he was going to be able to do that. "Uh..." He looked up at Sigma, then walked closer to the cowering and sobbing Rock. "Well, you always have paid well, and...yoink!" He grabbed Rock and ran like hell, knowing there could not possibly be a happy ending to all of this. He was almost halfway down the hallway to Sigma's chamber when the outraged roar he'd been expecting finally came.

Rock cried softly, clinging to Dynamo tightly as he ran down hall after hall, changing direction whenever he heard footsteps or shouting. Why had he come for him? Now Dynamo was going to be caught as well, and it was all his fault for running away. Everything, this entire situation was his fault. "I'm s-sorry..." He whispered over and over, pawing at Dynamo's armor gently, as he realized how bleak their chances were. He wished he had never been repaired, that he had never come here. He should have stayed where he was, he didn't belong here with the wonderful man who was trying to rescue him.

Dynamo ran hard and fast now, the way out just at the end of this corridor. He'd chuck Rock outside, tell him to run for it, then cover him. They weren't going to get past him until he was completely destroyed. Almost there. He wondered where X was now, if he knew of the disaster about to occur. He wished he did, so he could have someone to send Rock off with. Squeezing his eyes shut, he made a mad dash for the exit.

He was less than three feet from it when Dynamo was thrown bodily off his path, slamming into the wall. He struggled to get off poor Rock, who was shrieking beneath him, crushed between the wall, the floor, and Dynamo. Finally, he made it to his knees- and stopped. There had to be hundreds of them, faces he had passed on several different occasions, giving none a second look; each appeared more blood thirsty than the last. Slowly, Dynamo raised his hands, in a gesture of defeat, and slid his body in front of Rock's protectively.

X ran down yet another corridor, making his way toward the centre of Sigma's base. There was something unsettling about the complete lack of security here. He had seen maybe two or three mavericks, spaced out along his path, all of which he had dealt with stealthily. Where were they all? Suddenly he heard it, a faded yell, off in the distance. X stopped in his tracks.

Dynamo. He stared in the direction the sound had traveled from, wanting to go help him. His body remained still however, refusing. No... He had to get Rock first. Dynamo was a big boy, he could hold his own. Rock, however, was a different story. He knew Rock wasn't built for the kind of abuse he risked here.

X hesitated, not knowing where to go. He was getting horribly lost and that wouldn't solve anything. There was another faint yell from Dynamo, this one of pain. X worried about Dynamo, partly because Rock was so attached to the man. But he had another mission now.

Rock, for his part, had been roughly shoved down a corridor by Dynamo, and now ran down the halls, crying softly at the screams he heard from behind him. "X?" He shouted, panicky, not wanting to attract a maverick's attention but hoping that Dynamo's hurriedly muttered comment about his brother meant X was here. Surprisingly, within seconds, X was next to him, panting heavily and having abandoned all subtlety. "X, you have to help! There's... There's so many of them!" He cried, rushing over to cling to his brother. X stared down at Rock, noticing that he seemed not too bad off. But once again, there was a yell from Dynamo, though this time it was really more of a scream of pain.

"Oh hell," X muttered. "This...is going to be difficult to deal with." Alright, Dynamo was probably getting his ass thoroughly kicked...but he'd done that for Rock. Did the mercenary maybe...actually love Rock? X gave his brother a shove. "Go. Go, I cleared out the way behind me. Hide outside if you can, and if it looks safe get to MMHQ in any way you can." Rock looked up at him pleadingly. "I promise I'll help him. Somehow." X said quietly, giving Rock another push behind him. God, how the hell was he going to do that? He couldn't fight off a whole maverick base and Sigma, but Dynamo would probably just be captured and tortured; Sigma didn't take personal insults like prisoner escapes kindly. So maybe another rescue was in order?

Sighing, he watched Rock dash the way he'd told him and activated his communicator. There was no way he'd get out of this without at least a little backup. Dynamo was such an idiot...but he wouldn't leave him behind, if the man was still alive.

Meanwhile, Dynamo was getting his ass thoroughly kicked, just as X had predicted. He had fought for a while, but fact was that a hundred-some-odd people cannot be fought off by a single man, no matter how pissed off said man is. He was forced to the ground, briefly reminding him of the beating X had given him, only this one involved people who didn't give a damn what Rock might think of his death. "You," Sigma growled, his mavericks clearing a way for him. "Are going to regret that incident."


	7. In the Fortress

A/N – Update again! Enjoy! Please R&R. I hope I got everyone their lemony goodness. If you still need it leave a comment or e-mail and we will get it to you. Sadly, I must run to work now, so it's another short chapter.

Dynamo grinned up at him weakly, though it was not his usual, award-winning grin. One eye was swollen shut, and he was bleeding from the mouth, his nose, anywhere the liquid could escape from, smearing his face. And still he grinned, triumphantly. "No, I don't think so. I did what I came here to do."

Sigma glared daggers at Dynamo, who had been thrown at his feet. "Is that so? Then, you know who that boy was. Good, I'll get everything out of you soon." He gave Dynamo a small kick in the gut, smirking as he withered and collapsed. "And I beg to differ. You'll wish you had never betrayed me, Dynamo. This is it for you."

He coughed loudly, and frowned, unhappy to see a small pooling of blood. "The only time I'll regret this is when I'm strapped for cash." He began to laugh, his voice odd, wheezy, and he knew he was done for. They would torture him slowly, doing unimaginable things to him, and then, when it was all over, and they had gotten everything they wanted from him- which was a lot, Dynamo knew many things he shouldn't- they would kill him.

Shutting his eyes, he let the mavericks close in on him again, no longer putting up a fight. What the hell, at least it ha been worth it. He wouldn't have minded getting laid again before he died, though. He snorted at the thought, hardly noticing as he was pulled to his feet and dragged down the hall. Hopefully X had been smart, and had left with Rock. He could hardly see him sticking around to bail his ass out of trouble, knowing how X felt about him. He smiled dreamily, shutting his eyes, and the figure crouched in the shadows went unnoticed.

Oh yeah, Dynamo had taken one hell of a beating, X noted from the vacant expression in his eyes. Dy looked almost pleased with himself over something, grinning as blood trickled into his mouth. Scanning quickly for mavericks, he hit a button on his communicator. "Zero. I'm sending you my coordinates. You'd better get down here." He looked around slowly. "I'm at Sigma's base."

------------------------

Rock ran and ran down the hall X had pointed him down, tripping over fallen objects, and the occasional corpse, wire and chip strewn across the floor coated with blood, and looked around desperately for a way out. He was terrified, breath falling in small gasps and sobs, and had no idea whatsoever where he was going. Suddenly he hit cold metal and realized he had run into a wall, so distracted with the thought of escaping, he hadn't noticed it until it was too late. His mouth tasted rusty, and he realized he'd gashed his face again, spitting the blood out. He had damaged himself far worse than any of the mavericks had, all while trying to escape, first his situation at headquarters, and now the base he was trapped in.

Mopping his eyes quickly, he continued to run in the direction he hoped was the exit, before suddenly crashing into something hard. Armor. He shrieked hysterically, trying to push the maverick away, but they jerked him closer, shaking him and calling to him. Suddenly he realized it wasn't a maverick who'd run into him, it was Zero.

Zero stared down at the mess Rock had become. He was shaking violently, gashed and bruised everywhere, and seemed unable to talk; anything he may have tried to say coming out as loud incoherent shrieking. He was obviously in some state of shock. Zero wondered vaguely what could have happened to him to make him so completely hysterical. "Rock." He stated again, firmly, as he shook him. "Hey, it's okay. X-" He never finished his sentence, Rock had latched onto him tightly, and was all but wailing, legs giving out beneath him.

Zero was shocked. He thought Rock had hated him, but it was obvious that whatever was going on around this place was enough to make him forget all of that. He picked Rock up, shushing him and hoping that the wailing wouldn't attract any unwanted attention. Christ, what was going on here? It was bad enough that he was in Sigma's base, but X was nervous and Rock was hysterical enough to come to him for comfort... Zero blinked. That left Dynamo. He could imagine what had happened there...but if the mercenary had been killed, he wouldn't have been called, so Dynamo must have not died yet.

"It's okay," He muttered again, patting Rock as he hiccuped slightly, the sobbing slowing. "If you want me to help, you're going to have to let go of me," Zero pointed out gently, and it got through to Rock enough for him to loosen his grip. "Great. Now if you could just tell me where Dynamo is..." The boy squirmed out of Zero's arms, eyes wide and teary, and pointed vaguely in the direction Rock had come from. "Alright." Zero sank to one knee, ruffling Rock's hair. "You just hold on, okay? I have to leave you here or X will kill me..." Rock sniffled then clung to Zero's leg. "Oh, come on...you could get hurt." No response, but Rock clung even tighter to his leg. ... Great. Zero heaved a sigh, pried Rock slowly off his leg, and immediately had the boy attached to his arm.

Screw it. "Fine, fine, you can come. I'm not going to get rid of you, I see." Great, just great. With his luck, Rock would end up getting killed or worse. Zero did not have a great track record of coming away from battles like this unscathed.

------------------------

X shuddered slightly in nervousness, noticing how the mavericks were starting to disperse now that Dynamo had been beaten. A couple of them dragged the mercenary down a dark hall, and X ducked out of the room as fast as he could without attracting attention. Alright, he could handle this. Zero was coming along, hopefully with stealth, and Rock would be out of the building now...

He raised his buster as footsteps clicked to a stop near him. And blinked at Zero. The red hunter had a very shaky Rock clinging to his armored chest like he was the last bastion of hope for the boy. "Why is Rock here? He could get hurt!" X hissed, frowning.

Zero raised a hand defensively. "He won't let go of me," He muttered. "Not my fault."

X sighed, sinking back against the wall. Christ, had anything gone right tonight? Nothing he could do about things now, however. The mavericks were no longer grouped together, spread out amongst the building once more. There was no way they'd be able to take Rock out, then return for Dynamo without detection. They'd have to make it all out together, in one shot, or leave Dynamo, and X was not going to do that. Regardless of what Dynamo had said and done to Rock, he had exchanged his life for the boy's and that meant a lot in X's books.

"Right, right.. I should have expected as much." He whispered, walking up to them. He ran a hand through his brother's hair soothingly, surprised at the lack of reaction from Rock. Great, he'd gone catatonic on them. "Well, here goes nothing." he murmured, then kissed Zero-rather hotly- both for good luck, and just in case. Carefully, he slid through the doorway, making his way into the lower level of the base.

------------------------

Dynamo yelled in pain as he was run through with yet another hot poker, eyes wide with pain. He was no longer drifting, the pain kept him well grounded and alert. Somehow he found the strength to kick out at his attacker, unable to do much else. His arms were shackled over his head. God, that made seven. How many more times were they going to do this? Heat up an iron rod, then ram it into his body, searing, tear, destroying. Blood dripped slowly onto his face in large droplets, no wonder. There were three rods in his arms alone.

Why hadn't he talked yet? What was he, stupid? They were going to keep him alive until they got something, anything out of him- it had become personal for Sigma. He had trusted Dynamo a little too much, and his sudden betrayal angered him beyond imagination. If Dynamo were smart, he'd start talking now, before they moved onto more painful things. Then again, Dynamo wasn't known for his brainpower, was he?

So instead, he clenched his mouth shut, ignoring his torturer's demands for information, and found himself instead wondering whether Rock had made it safely out or not. He could only hope that his sacrifice hadn't been in vain, and that the little bastard was back at home, staring at the clock and waiting for Dynamo to hurry back after his daring escape. He'd just sit, and wait patiently, wearing that sweet smile of his which he showed proudly to the world. Dynamo smiled softly, pain once again clouding his mind as he let his thoughts stray far from his current position.

The room came alive with a resounding crack as a whip made contact with his bare stomach, and he was instantly brought back from his little daydream with a loud shout.

He hoped the boy was used to disappointment.

As X strode down the hallways, Zero remained a good distance behind, keeping an eye out for enemies and making sure Rock didn't whimper too loudly. It was easy to track where the mavericks had brought Dynamo. All they really had to do was follow the blood. There was a very loud scream that echoed through the halls, and Rock wrapped his arms around Zero so tightly he thought the boy would crack his armor. Crap. That...really didn't sound good.

He glanced at X, seeing a very determined look on his friend's face. With a heavy sigh, he resigned himself to backup duty; X looked angry. Just as well. Rock needed protection anyway.

"Fuck it, he's not saying anything."

Dynamo couldn't have spoken at that point even if he'd wanted to. His mind was completely frazzled, too disconnected with pain to come up with a coherent thought, much less a sentence. He decided passing out would be a good thing right about then, but sadly he didn't think he could just will himself to do so. Fuck. He blinked up at the blurry outlines of his torturers. At least things couldn't get worse... He screamed again as something stabbed him in the back, feeling blood running down his skin.

"Dynamooooo!"

The mercenary looked up, recognizing that voice. Rock. Alright, things could definitely get a hell of a lot worse. He sagged in his bonds. He'd failed after all...

Suddenly Rock was reanimated, releasing Zero, and ran for Dynamo before he could get a good grip on him. He crossed the room quickly; ignoring the surprised looks of his torturers, and threw his arms around Dynamo's waist, sobbing loudly. "You're hurt!"

Now this was the understatement of the year. He ignored that question, moving on the immediate situation at hand. "Rock, what are you doing here? I told you to escape! Get out of here!" He yelled frantically, fighting his bonds as the two mavericks torturing him made for Rock. "Rock! Get the hell out!"

Rock ignored him, and wrapped his arms around Dynamo's ragged body instead. "X!" He whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut. He had hardly gotten the words out and X was already there, placing himself between Rock and the mavericks. The entire battle took place in about 2 seconds, just long enough for Rock to flinch as he felt warm blood splash on his stunned face.

"That's that." X sighed, wiping blood off the plate of his armor. Damn, those mavericks had made a mess. He glanced back at Rock, noting the blood drenching his face and hair, then waved to Zero, urging him over.

THUD.

Rock was lying at Dynamo's feet, looking small and prone. Someone wasn't happy with the blood shed. Zero walked up to them, then stared at Dynamo, who was squirming in his bonds, eyes fixated on Rock. "Uhh. Guys... Think you could let me down?"

X smirked at him. "I don't know about that. I kind of like you that way, you're less of a hassle." The amused look slipped off his face as he surveyed the damage Dynamo had received, and slid in behind him, to catch the bloody mercenary if he couldn't hold his own weight. "Care to do the honours, Zero?" he asked, making a gesture to the bonds restraining Dynamo's beaten form.

Zero activated his saber, grinning widely. "Of course." He stepped up to Dynamo, staring at the thick bonds, then sighed. "Just a suggestion- don't move. I'd rather not carry your hand back to HQ in my pocket." Raising the saber, he took careful aim.

------------------------

Rock forced his eyes open, stirring. Why was he on the cold ground? It was wet, too. Turning his head a little, he stared up at the dim, hazy outlines of Zero and Dynamo, everything falling into place. The maverick base. They were still in the maverick base. Rock wanted to cry; he had never been more homesick in his life. This was no place for him, this building this world, none of it. Even the simplest mavericks were better equipped and far superior to him; he had no chance of surviving. None of them did, and it was entirely his fault. Slowly, his vision began to clear, allowing him to see the two looming near him, and Rock realized that Zero had his saber drawn and pointed toward Dynamo.

No. It was the same as before, everything. The smell, the dim, destroyed area, and Zero- poised to kill those he tried his hardest to protect- His loved ones. He'd told them Zero was a bad man, yet no one had listened to him. Something felt wrong with that belief suddenly, and Rock felt a pang of guilt, remembering the way Zero had held him, and carried him back to his brother when Rock had run into him. He hadn't seemed very bad then.

One thing was certain however; Zero was about to attack someone very precious to him.

"Nooooo!" Rock howled, and threw himself at Zero, tugging at the red reploid's armor. "Don't hurt him!" He knew that if worse came to worse, there was no way he could stand against Zero. He hadn't done well the first time they'd fought, and now he was hurt and Zero was armed and perfectly fine. He felt a sudden chill. Where was X? Had he...

Zero stared, wondering what the hell Rock was babbling about. It took a second, but he realized that it probably didn't look very good when he held a saber towards Dynamo and X was nowhere in sight. "Rock... I need to cut him down." The boy looked up at him, unsure. "I'm not going to hurt him. But if you keep shoving me around like that, I might accidentally chop off one of his hands, and I don't think he'd like that very much." Sighing, Zero rolled his eyes, glared at Dynamo, and began slicing carefully through the bonds.

A few seconds later, the mercenary collapsed back against X, the room spinning around him and totally out of focus. "...Ow." He said, not able to think of any sort of thanks or much of anything at the moment. Fuck, it hurt more now than it had when he was hanging for some reason. He heard a sniffle, and suddenly a small, warm body was pressed gently up against his.

"'M sorry! I didn't mean for any of this to happen!" Rock whimpered, near sobbing again but trying desperately not to cry. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Zero peeled Rock off of Dynamo. "Come on. We know you didn't want this to happen, but apologies later. Getting out alive is slightly more important right now." He glanced at X. "Got a plan?"

X nodded and sighed, then shook his head. "I had a plan, but you brought Rock. It's too risky." He wasn't about to traumatize Rock further than the poor kid already was. He kept his voice low, not wanting to upset Rock and make him think he'd done something horribly wrong. He'd save his reprimands for another day.

"Forget that, let's do it. Better he get... Well, better while trying to escape. If we stay here, we're all done for." Zero reasoned with, and inadvertently started a fight.

Dynamo watched the two argue back and forth in hushed whispers, then let his head drop back again. Great. They were going to die for sure now. He shut his eyes, sighing softly. May as well take a quick nap before getting strung up and tortured more. He felt Rock tug on his arm, and tried his best to ignore him. He couldn't deal with the tears, and the worrying, and the-

"Why don't they ask that pretty lady, Alia? She always tells X what to do."

Dynamo snapped up quickly. "X! Get Alia's help!" Why hadn't anyone thought of that before?"

X glared over at him, irritated at the interruption of his argument with Zero. "Wow, why didn't I think of that before? Oh, because it'd be pointless." He muttered. "Without at least a basic map of the place, Alia can't do anything for us." He turned back to Zero, knowing he'd have to go with the original plan if things didn't look up. Then stopped. "Dynamo... Do you know of any maps for this base?" Dynamo was constantly in and out of the building; he'd had to have seen something.

Dynamo shrugged. "I do. Buuuut, it's going to cost you." He noted the rather brutal look X gave him, and quickly added in: " Absolutely nothing. Consider it a freebie."


	8. Bring in the stunt doubles

A/N- Ha! Another chapter! You can be shocked now! And then review! Things get more disturbing in their own way very shortly, so there might be a bit of a lag a few chapters from now, as I have to consult with my partner about what we're going to do about a certain scene which is important to the story, but very much taboo XD;; Sadly I can't say much more than that. In any case, enjoy and review! Reviewing (aside from ego stroking us) is a good way to let us know what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see and what you don't want to see for future reference. If you still don't have uncensored chaps of something you can ask in any chapter's review and it will be taken care of. nod I think I've run on long enough, I'd better go get ready before I'm late for my first day at new job.

Gimp

--------------------------------

Shit, shit, shit, this really sucked. Dynamo winced, feeling like he was going to collapse. The pain was bad... but hell. At least they were getting somewhere with all of this. He stared up at the ceiling, listening vaguely to X working hurriedly with Zero to get something or another done. He'd given them what information he could, but the fact was his brain was too frazzled to do much.

Rock stared at his friend, cuddling the mercenary as much as he could when he was clinging to the man's hip and helping him stand. "Uh, Rock?" Dynamo muttered, sinking slightly where he stood. "I think I'm going to pass out." Which he promptly did, and Rock was hard pressed to stop him hitting the floor full-force.

Zero looked up, saw Dynamo stretched out on the floor, and blinked. "Fuck." He said. That really didn't help. "X, tell Alia we're going to have to plan on a hell of a lot of deadweight."

X followed Zero's gaze and cursed as well. "He just had to go and do that, didn't he." He sighed, not angry but starting to get a little depressed. "Alright then..." He hit a couple buttons on his communicator. "Alia? Uh...we're in a little bit of trouble here..." X glanced around the room, hearing footsteps echoing from somewhere above them. "And if you could hurry with the help, it would really be great since we don't like dying. We need an escape route, and fast."

:What kind of trouble: Alia's tinny voice demanded.

X stared up at the ceiling. A large group of mavericks were making their way toward them, and fast. Once they hit the stairs at the end of the corridor, they'd be upon them within seconds. "Uh... The bad kind."

-------------

X hauled ass down the hall, Zero not far behind him, following directions Alia fed to them as they ran. Damn, this was never going to work, never in a million years. They were going to die, all of them, and there was nothing they could do about it. "Damn." He grunted to himself, turning right quickly. Rock, who had his small body wrapped around the front of X's armor seemed to sense X's frustration and clung tighter, whispering in his ear for him alone to hear.

"Are we going to die?" Rock had been in many fights, and several wars with Wily and his robot masters. He'd seen them do some rather horrible things, but nothing like what these reploids did. How could a race that spawned from his kind, loving brother do such grotesque things?

"Of course not, don't be silly." X interrupted Rock's thoughts with. "We get out of scrapes like this all the time. Right Zero?" He shot his partner a look that told the blonde to just agree with whatever X said.

"Hmm? Sure, all the time." Zero mumbled, distracted with the bloody- and if that was drool, Zero was going to kill Dynamo himself- cargo on his back. "Hey, X, remember that time Vile was about to kill you and I had to blow him up and save your ass?"

X shot Zero an odd look from over his shoulder. "Of course I do, Zero. You died."

"Oh yeah..."

"Zero... Shut up." So much for the encouraging stories, X thought bitterly as Rock dug his nails into the soft fabric his armor didn't cover. He wished Alia would hurry up and find them a way out, so they could escape from this hellhole.

:Stop here. This is your exit.:

X stared out the window they had stopped in front of- and down. God, they had to be at least 50 feet above the ground, if not double that. "Great."

"How the heck are we supposed to get down there, Alia?"

:Jump, of course. There wasn't another route to bring you to, so this is really your best chance.:

X looked down. If this was their best chance...well, it didn't bode well for any of the other options. Great, just… great. He looked at Zero, who had walked up behind him, still dragging Dynamo's unconscious body behind him lazily. "How much time do we have?" If they had a couple minutes, maybe they could work something out that would get them less injured, or at least lessen the chances of dying.

Zero grunted. "Just enough time for this," He muttered, moving forward and kissing X hotly. "Fuck, just jump." he panted, pulling away and swinging Dynamo off his shoulder. "Get down there, I'll get Dynamo to you, but just..." X didn't move. "GO!" He gave X a shove, toppling the man through the small opening, watched him and Rock plummet, X positioning himself to protect Rock from the impact, and turned around to face the mavericks running up the hall. "Come on, you bastards."

They hit the ground and rolled, X grunting in pain and hoping that Rock was alright as he got the wind knocked out of him and a crack in his armor from the impact. He gasped for breath, uncurling from the near-fetal position he'd been in. "Rock..." He wheezed, "Are...you...okay?" When the boy nodded, X stood up shakily to see Dynamo's body shoved roughly through the window by a random maverick. He rushed to catch it, hoping desperately for Zero to be alright.**-------------**

Zero swung his saber at maverick after maverick, keeping them as far from the window as possible, knowing he would need to leap out of there as soon as he had them far enough at bay. One had gotten past him already, and before he could do anything, Dynamo had been thrown out the window, disappearing from view. Hopefully X had survived the fall and was conscious enough to grab Dynamo before he hit the ground. 

As more and more mavericks piled into the room, he began to grow agitated. How was he ever going to get out that window without losing a limb? He really didn't feel like dying again; blowing up wasn't really a fond pastime. Suddenly the ledge hit the back of his thighs, and he realized he had been backed right up to the window. He had one chance now, and he hoped his ill thought out plan would work. "SHIT!" He yelled, stumbling purposefully backward, as though about to fall out the window, and an eager maverick leapt forward, to tackle him to the ground. This gave him extra leverage, and both he and the maverick tumbled out into the night air.

This was it. He grappled with the maverick as they fell, managing to force him beneath him, head first, and held him still. "Get out of the way!" He shouted to X, who had prepared himself to catch Zero before he landed. X leapt aside and seconds later the maverick hit the ground with a loud crunch, head crushed between Zero's fist and the ground. Zero got to his feet, brushing dirt off himself, and looked around, scanning the area for mavericks. "There… That wasn't so bad." He sighed, patting Rock who had rushed up to see if he was damaged on the back; wiping the blood off his hands on the boy's shirt subconsciously. Rock didn't notice this, busy staring up at the window they had leapt through.

"I think they saw us." He stated, pointing up at the window calmly. 

Mavericks were shouting orders to each other, pointing back at them and hollering. Zero scooped Rock up quickly, then ran with him to X who was struggling to pick Dynamo up. Grabbing an arm, he wrapped it over his shoulder, and together they held Dynamo up, as though walking, and made for the safety of the forest, off in the distance.

"Alia, better get someone to patch us up when we get back." X muttered, grunting under Dynamo's weight. "Looks like we made it after all.

--------------------

It was much, much later when they got back to headquarters, ditched Dynamo to be repaired; and Rock followed X and Zero through the halls like a puppy, having been told he couldn't stay around to watch Dynamo. The boy walked slowly behind the pair, watching Zero's hair swish around and thinking. They'd done so much to protect him, both of them, and Dynamo too...he felt so bad, not being able to defend himself. If only he had his armor-! Maybe then, he could have...

Rock sighed, deciding not to think about it until he could apologize to everyone, especially Dynamo. He forced himself to concentrate on the hushed whispers the two hunters were talking in, then, not hearing anything coherent, watched that long blonde hair swing around invitingly... He moved up close, staring up at the back of Zero's head long enough to decide that it wouldn't bother the man, and grabbed a couple handfuls of soft, silken hair. Zero stopped dead. Rock walked into the hunter's back after the abrupt stop and would have toppled over backwards if he hadn't been clinging to the ponytail.

Zero turned around, frown already in place as he prepared to bitch at whoever had- oh. He blinked; frown fading as he looked down at Rock, the boy's bruised face smiling softly. "You have really nice hair." He gave it a tug, Zero's hands twitching as he instinctively wanted to throttle someone, but Rock was sadly very nice and not the typical hair-pulling idiot he was used to. "Thank you. For earlier." Rock said quietly, and the sudden comment threw the hunter totally off. Hadn't the boy said he'd hated Zero?

".…" Well, what was he supposed to say to that? "...No problem."

X turned around, wondering why Zero had stopped, then sighed as he saw Rock and what he held. Great. "Zero, come on. We have more important things to do than get all pouty about something like that." He glanced at Rock. "We have something to ask you, Rock. But we need a little privacy first."

Rock looked from one to the other, then sighed, letting his gaze drop to the ground. He already knew what this was about, they were going to yell at him for getting everyone into so much trouble, and then they were going to ask him to leave. Tears spilled down his cheeks, and he felt weak in the knees. After seeing what the outside world was like anymore, he suddenly wished to be nowhere _but_ at the MHHQ. Still, after everything that had happened, he couldn't blame them. God... The whole night had been Hell, his overworked mind hadn't dwelled on it yet, and he didn't plan to let it until he was alone and ready.

He half listened as X ran on explaining to him that after they had their little talk, Rock would have to talk to Signas as well, and explain to him exactly what he had said to Sigma, word for word, to be sure there hadn't been an information slip. Suddenly Rock couldn't stand the cold shoulder he felt was getting and threw his arms around X's waist, sobbing. He felt X's hand brush on his shoulder and Rock dug his nails into him, in fear of being pushed away.

X sighed and pat Rock's shoulder lightly, slowing his pace so he wasn't dragging Rock along behind him. Rock looked tired, sore, upset, and horribly, horribly guilty, all of which made perfect sense to him, but it still bothered X to see his brother so distraught. Scooping him up suddenly, he hurried to catch up with Zero who hadn't slowed down with him. "We're almost there, then you can sit down, alright?"

Rock nodded, wondering why X was being so nice to him when he was going to kick him out anyway, but didn't ask, he knew he couldn't rely on his legs for much longer without some serious rest. He rest his cheek on X's chest-plate, finding it oddly comforting to be carried this way, and a small smile found its way past the marring on his face.

The trip to the door was far too short, and before he knew it he was in someone's quarters- Judging from the general mess, Zero's- and X was setting him down on a dangerously comfortable couch. His eyes fought him for rest and almost won, but suddenly Rock felt the weight of X and Zero sitting on either side of him, and he beat it out at the last minute.

Well... This was it. Rock stared at his feet quietly, waiting for the bad news.

"Rock... Why do you hate Zero so much?"

Shocked, Rock looked directly up at X, then turned his gaze to Zero, who was rather pointedly not looking at him. He hadn't expected that...and he wasn't sure that he wanted to discuss it, really. "N-no reason." He murmured, looking down at his lap and wringing his hands together. The boy wasn't stupid; he could see how much X cared for Zero and the blonde had been very kind to him and helped him through the whole day. He was really starting to believe Zero had changed. "It's nothing. Really. You really don't want to hear anything about it..."

X bit his lower lip, worrying. "Rock...I really think it's important. You said...he killed people?"

"I don't wanna talk about it." There was no way he was going to think about _that_ incident, not so soon after what had happened. "Please, X, not now. I don't...I don't want to think about it." He pleaded, repressing the images of a crushed and bleeding Dr. Light as that horrible laughter...he found he was shuddering violently, X holding him steady. "Tired." Rock muttered, clinging to X tightly as he slowly drifted off, escaping the waking nightmare that threatened to arise.

X stared down at his brother, sighed, and let him lay down on the couch. The poor boy was probably so tired...and it was obviously not a good memory. He patted Rock gently on the shoulder. "Fine. You sleep." Tentatively, he glanced over at Zero. The hunter was curled up at the end of the couch, refusing to look at either of them. "Zero? Is... something wrong?"

Zero shook his head dismissively, standing up and making his way to the door. "Nothing... I'm going to report in to Signas now. See you later." Then he left. As though X was an acquaintance, someone you waved to passing down the hall.

X let his head drop back in irritation. What was wrong with everyone? It seemed he couldn't get an answer from anyone these days. "Damnit!" He cursed aloud to himself, and made a mental note to force an answer out of either Rock or Zero in the morning, no matter what. As soon as Signas was through with Rock, and he had located Zero, who he doubted he'd see before then. He knew Zero, who would probably spend the night brooding, drinking, and wandering.

Leaning over, he flicked the light by the couch off and clutched Rock close, half out of a protective instinct, half to keep the boy from running off and getting into trouble again.


	9. Short and plot filled?

A.N/ Sorry, can't post much right now, have to get my ass to school, and this was all I could edit. More to come soon, let us know what you think about this runoff

Gimp- going to miss the bus!

"NO!" Rock cried, practically throwing a tantrum. "I don't wanna go talk with Signas! I want to see Dynamo!" He was squirming and writhing as X carried him down the hall over his shoulder. "He needs me! X!" He was freshly awake, and had been planning on making a trip down to the repair ward before X had stomped that idea out with his announcement of Rock's 8am meeting with the general.

X yawned loudly, avoiding Rock's knee and he squirmed, patting him lightly. "Rock, stop it. You're making a scene." He ignored the strange looks he was getting from the other hunters, and turned right, down a brightly-lit hall. "It won't take long. I'm sure they're not done repairing him anyway." His mouth opened wide into a yawn- he'd hardly gotten any sleep, waiting to see if Zero returned. Now he was irritable and worse yet, he was worried about the bastard.

Rock quieted down at that, hearing his brother's exhaustion in his voice, and allowed himself to be carried the rest of the way with as much dignity as he could muster with his little ass up in the air. He wasn't nervous about seeing Signas, he'd seemed nice enough when he'd met him, however, he _was_ worried about the kinds of questions he was going to have to answer.

Suddenly Rock was set on his feet, and X kneeled down on one knee in front of him. "Good luck." He kissed Rock's scraped and bruised cheek softly, brushed his hair back, then stood and ushered him into the room, shutting the door lightly behind himself.

As Rock stared around the room, all the nervousness he _should_ have felt crashed down on him- He felt like a prisoner in this windowless, white washed room. He felt small, smaller than he remembered feeling in a long time.

"Ah, there you are, Rock." Signas entered the room, seeing Rock jump slightly at the intrusion and turn slowly around to stare up at him. "I understand there was...an incident yesterday?" A small nod. "Care to tell me about it?"

Rock shifted around, feeling terribly nervous, and his mouth worked silently for a minute before he finally blurted out, "I- I was scared!" He whimpered, eyes watering. "There were two people and they brought me to this man, Sigma...and..." Signas waited calmly. "H-he hurt Dynamo." Rock finished miserably.

"And not you? Did you tell them anything that they asked?"

"He was going to hurt me, but Dynamo stopped him. And he didn't tell them anything either!" The response was vehement, Rock totally convinced that his friend hadn't told the mavericks anything. He stared up at Signas, the man before him seeming so tall and imposing, so calmly disbelieving that he wanted to cry. "I...want to see him. He saved me."

"I'm sorry, but we have to ask Dynamo questions as well. If he was indeed...captured, even for a short time, we have to know if..." Signas trailed off. Rock was sniffling sadly, those wide eyes staring up at him as if it had hurt Rock personally to think that Dynamo might have... Signas sighed. He believed Dynamo would say anything under duress. "I'm sorry, but it's necessary to..." Rock whimpered and rubbed at his eyes. With growing unease, Signas shifted where he stood. "...Perhaps you could speak to him for a bit..."

A huge grin broke out on Rock's face. "Thank you!" He said cheerily, flinging himself at Signas to wrap the man's waist in a huge hug. "Can we go see him now?" Signas smiled softly and nodded. "Thank you so much!" Rock grinned. He could see Dynamo!

--------------------

Zero was stinking drunk, pissed off for no reason, and he was staring at the ceiling of X's room for reasons he couldn't discern. Why was he in here? X wasn't in his room, and he felt like he was going to pass out anyway. Life...sucked.

He know Rock was X's brother, and he trusted him, but try as he might, Zero couldn't remember ever seeing Rock until he had arrived at X's doorstep. Dynamo had said Rock was severely damaged when he had found the boy, and he had probably been confused and frightened when he had first seen Zero. It was easy to understand how he could come to such a conclusion about him with his memory so muddled, Zero must have looked rather intimidating to him at the time. Yet, Rock was still insisting that Zero had done something horrible to him, and it upset him. He hated being wrongly accused, and the fact that X believed every word about it simply because Rock was his brother... Well, it bothered him.

"Don't you dare puke on my couch."

Zero turned his head sluggishly to stare up at X, who was looking back down at him rather dryly. He opened his mouth to give him an earful, then shut it quickly, in fear of doing just what he'd been ordered not to. "Hey, babe." he finally risked, giving him a drunken smile.

X sighed, rolling his eyes, and found himself caressing Zero's face softly. "What am I going to do with you? Honestly, Zero..." He stopped his lecture, seeing the hurt Zero had almost succeeded in hiding, and instead hopped over the couch, and pulled him into a sitting position, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Alright, you drunken ass." X muttered, leaning on him. "Let's hear it."

Zero stared at him momentarily, as though to decide whether it was worth talking or not, then blurted everything out. "What the hell, X. I know he's your brother and everything, but Christ, you've known me a lot longer than him. Why are you taking his word over mine? I know he doesn't like me, but he started it, and-"

X stared at him incredulously. "Zero, that is the most childish thing I've ever heard you say!"

"You love him more than me." He finished with sardonically, and X could swear he saw him pout. Ah yes, he had almost forgot. There _was_ something worse than Zero drunk. Zero drunk and irrational.

"What are you talking about?" He asked finally, at a loss. "I'm not taking sides, I just want to get everything sorted with Rock, that's all. I don't want him to think poorly of you." He ran his hand through his hair gently; knowing Zero was too drunk to fight back. "So you can relax... Alright, Zero? ... Zero? Zero had passed out, leaning on him heavily. "Great... Glad we had this talk." X mumbled, giving his sleeping buddy the thumbs up. 

-------------------------

"Dynamo!" Rock cried before he even made it past the doors. He scrambled through them quickly, scanning the area for Dynamo's tall self, then finally found him in a far corner, still unconscious. His armor and skin had been opened up, and spare chips rest grouped around each wound, awaiting insertion. He remembered how Dynamo had looked the night before, images flashing before his eyes, and he found himself crying again, turning quickly from Dynamo's prone form to prevent shorting a circuit.

Signas clapped a hand on his shoulder, finally caught up to him, and sighed, seeing the grief on the boy's scrunched up face. "Perhaps we should go, Rock." Obviously this had been a bad idea- The sight was too much for the innocent child. 

"No." Rock whispered hoarsely, shaking his head. "I don't want to go yet." He forced himself to stop crying, and stared down at Dynamo silently. "He got hurt like this because of me." Reaching out, he fanned his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry, Dynamo..." He whimpered, then ran a hand down his side slowly. His hand hit a chip, and he caught it before it slid off Dynamo's chest.

He knew this part. Slowly, he reached into Dynamo's body and pulled a destroyed chip out, then slid the one in his hand into place, replacing it. Signas grabbed his wrist quickly, stopping him, and leaned down. "Don't do that, okay? You don't want to break him." He offered gently, but Rock refused to budge.

"No, don't. I know what I'm doing. The set up is the same as X's was, when I built him." He blurted thoughtlessly, and pulled his hand free, starting in on Dynamo immediately. It took him several seconds to realize he'd slipped information he shouldn't have, and it didn't occur to Rock that he'd said something wrong until he heard Signas' surprised voice.

"Who _are_ you?"


End file.
